photo by: Eric Ayres

Beginning Tuesday, city of Wheeling offices located on the third floor of the City-County Building downtown will be temporarily relocated to the first floor space previously occupied by the Wheeling Police Department.

The Ohio County Commission announced the official start to the City-County Building’s long-awaited HVAC renovation project Tuesday.

After two-and-a-half years of waiting, Project Director Melissa Marco said city workers moved city offices downstairs for HVAC renovations which started Tuesday. The move only took a day, she said.

City workers have not reported any problems with their “swing” or temporary work space and the move went very well, she said. This portion of the project is set to be done in six weeks.

“I think that this first phase of this project is what is going to build the confidence for the rest of the project, because we can show that we smoothly moved the city into their swing space and we finished on time and we can smoothly move them back,” Marco said. “I think that will help us immensely as we talk to the other floors to get them moving.”

The circuit clerk will be next to move offices for the project, she said. Judges offices will be completed according to their schedules so court does not get disrupted.

There are also several projects going on out in front of the building, like caps being put on the porch columns to prevent water damage that shortens their lifespan. A heating blanket will be added under the ground of the porches so that salt is not necessary during icy winter months.

The porch repairs are covered by a grant from Jan. 1 2025 to Dec. 31 2025, which will overlap with the HVAC project slated to run until Nov. 25, 2025.

It will be a challenge to coordinate the renovations inside while ensuring access to the porches, Marco said.

“One year from now, I will sit here and tell you it’s done,” she said. “It will be done.”

Additionally, Ohio County Sheriff-elect Nelson Croft said new cameras for police cruisers are being installed. The commission will need to look ahead to the next budget and start thinking about replacing some of the fleet’s vehicles to keep them up to date, he added.

Croft also shared that the sheriff’s office and safety committee at Wheeling Central Catholic High School will be running a lockdown and evacuation drill on Thursday. Students will be evacuated to the second floor courtroom.

The commission also approved several requests for ARPA funds, including $25,000 for the Town of Triadelphia to address sewage issues, $450,393 to the Ohio County Public Service District’s vacuum station replacement project, $100,000 to the Village of Clearview to go towards necessary repairs to a sewage line, and $25,000 for the Holy Family Child Care Center.