FEMA Funds Eyed for Repairs to Recreation Facilities

Photo by Eric Ayres

WHEELING - Officials in the city of Wheeling are eying improvements to recreational facilities damaged during last year’s disastrous flooding, and funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been targeted to get repairs done.

Last June’s flash flooding in Ohio County not only devastated much of Triadelphia and Valley Grove, but sections of the city of Wheeling were also impacted. Since the weather event was declared a federal disaster, repairs to damaged infrastructure and public property may be eligible for reimbursement through FEMA.

According to Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron, two recreational facilities in the city will be the next in line to receive this federal assistance for improvement projects.

"FEMA is starting to release funds for the two federal disasters that have been declared for Wheeling," Herron said. "The next projects that have been approved and released for bidding are the I-470 baseball field - the large field that the Legion, Wheeling University and Wheeling Central play on - for renovations."

This project is currently out to bid with a bid opening date set for Oct. 9, Herron noted.

"The same thing is true with the Greggsville Playground," he said. "Those projects will be undertaken later this fall, and the completion dates on those renovations will be Dec. 31."

Herron said some material was washed away and rocks were washed onto portions of the "big field" at the I-470 baseball complex during the June 2025 flash flooding. Similarly, the playground at the recreational facility in Greggsville was also heavily damaged during the same weather event.

"The estimated cost for each has now been approved by FEMA," Herron said. "Actual bids are required to receive the funds, which are typically up-fronted by them. Sometimes it is reimbursement."

In addition to these two recreational facilities damaged during last summer’s flooding, there are other areas that still need repairs and potentially eligible projects in which FEMA assistance is being eyed to aid in their completion.

"There are a few others yet to move forward," Herron explained, noting that plans are falling into place to get weather-related issues addressed up on Parkview. "We are very close to getting clearance on that project. It is a joint project with the West Virginia Division of Highways - a road slip - and our Water Pollution Control Division - a sewer line."