IBEW Local 141 Looks To Expand Training Facilities in Elm Grove

WHEELING -- Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 141 in Wheeling are hoping to expand its apprenticeship programs and construct a new training facility across the street from its headquarters in Elm Grove.

IBEW Local 141 President Glenn Douglass "Doug" Giffin recently appeared before the Wheeling Planning Commission during a public hearing on a request for a zone change that will open the door for the plans for expanding training at their facilities.

The Jack Kemp Training Center and IBEW Local 141 facility is located at 82 Burkham Court. In December, the IBEW purchased the double-duplex that is located across the street to the rear of their facility at 79 Burkham Court.

Tom Connelly, director of Wheeling’s Building and Planning Department, noted that the property where the vacant duplex is situated is zoned R-1C Single Family High Density, and the request for a zone change to C-1 Neighborhood Commercial would make it the same zoning category as the IBEW building.

"This property is located directly behind the IBEW Wheeling Joint Apprenticeship Training Center," Connelly said. "They’ve acquired the property across the street, and they’re looking for permission to raze the structure and construct an additional training center. The applicant has stated that they’ve outgrown their current facility."

Connelly noted that the property at 79 Burkham Court is the last property inside the city limits before you leave Wheeling traveling on the adjacent Peter’s Run Road.

"We try to keep our properties as clean and hazard-free as possible," said Giffin, who is president and organizer for the IBEW, but attended the public hearing as a representative of the IBEW Apprenticeship Committee Board of Trustees.

"We’ve been in that current location since the early ’70s," Giffin said. "We’ve always taken great pride in trying to make a nice neighborhood presence in the community."

Giffin said the IBEW’s apprenticeship programs are first-class electrical training programs that take place all across the country. The local Ohio Valley site happens to be at their office located in Wheeling at the Burkham Court property where the neighborhoods of Triadelphia and Elm Grove meet.

"We’re kind of running out of space to train apprentices in the area," Giffin said. "We have approximately 50 apprentices. The space that we have, we’re able to teach some electronics work, but when we bring in journeyman wiremen, we’re kind of overcrowded. We do train journey wiremen for this area to do residential, commercial and industrial work in a safe manner."

Giffin said the IBEW has always worked to be good neighbors to the residents of the area.

"The current property is well-lit in the evening and is under video surveillance," he noted. "Sidewalks kept clear of snow and ice."

Wheeling City Councilman Dave Palmer, who is a member of the Planning Commission, represents Ward 6 where these properties are located. He said he was invited as the ward councilman to take a tour of the facilities there to help get a better idea about what they hope to do.

"It’s a first-class establishment," Palmer said. "They’ve been good stewards of the neighborhood."

Giffin invited the other city officials to tour the facilities, as well.

Officials noted that the property in question is already adjacent to C-1 zoned properties, so a zone change would not be considered "spot zoning."

No one spoke during the public hearing. Planning Commission member Thomas Connor, who is the business manager of IBEW Local 141 and is also a member of the training committee, recused himself and abstained from voting on the zone change request.

Otherwise, planning commission members unanimously agreed to forward a recommendation to approve the zone change request to city council for consideration during a future meeting.