Mayor: Wheeling Being Rebuilt Before Our Eyes

WHEELING -- Mayor Glenn Elliott last week urged residents to take note of the many public and private investments presently being made to improve the city -- efforts that piece-by-piece are helping to shape Wheeling's future.

From multimillion-dollar, state-funded highway projects to individual investments by private property owners, the flurry of construction that is currently underway or scheduled to begin in the coming months year is expected to bring about noticeable improvements throughout the city once work is completed.

With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping people at home for months on end, many citizens have taken a portion of their savings -- money they otherwise would have used on travel plans, concert outings or other leisure activities that have been scrapped this year -- and invested it into their properties. Home improvement projects have become the go-to hobby for homeowners during the pandemic, and many business owners who are able to do so have been using this unprecedented time to reinvest in their properties, as well.

In the public sector, millions of dollars in major projects have been moving full-steam ahead through the pandemic.

"There's a lot of different construction or infrastructure projects going on right now, and I think it's important that we kind of take stock of what's happening in the city," the mayor said last week. "It's as if our city is being rebuilt right now right before our eyes."

Elliott noted many of the projects unfolding in the Wheeling area right now.

"Of course, you have the $214 million I-70 Bridges Project," he said. "It's not really quite halfway through yet, but it's well into the meat of that project. You see a lot of work done on the Fort Henry Bridge and on the east side of the tunnel. The $25 million Downtown Streetscape Project is in its early stages, but things are moving forward."

The mayor noted that in preparation for the Streetscape project -- which is expected to begin construction next spring -- underground utility improvement work is being completed in the downtown area before the street reconstruction and paving, sidewalk replacement and other work on the surface begins.

"The city is working right now on Market Street on a $1 million sewer line replacement," Elliott said. "We just signed a contract to reconfigure the Streetscape over near Nailers Way to make the 16th and Market streets interchange a four-way interchange."

Other major infrastructure projects are slated to begin in the fall throughout Wheeling, the mayor noted.

"In terms of underground work, there's a $2.1 million sewer project for the Bedillion Lane area that has been on city council's agenda to be approved," he said. "In South Warwood, there's a $377,000 sewer project. The Washington Avenue Bridge is scheduled to get a $7.3 million replacement with the state picking up about $5.8 million of that. Last year, the city spent about $1 million in paving, this year we're well on the path to spend about the same."

The Finance Committee of Council recently approved $800,000 in paving projects in the city for fiscal year 2020, the mayor said. In terms of demolition of dilapidated properties, last year city council approved a record of $400,000 for demolition, this year the finance committee has approved a recommendation of $500,000.

"Each of those would be records for the amount of money the city spent in any year cleaning up properties," Elliott explained.

The city recently took action to acquire the former Ohio Valley Medical Center property and this week voted to purchase the vacant industrial building property at 19th and Jacob streets. City leaders plan to repurpose a building on the OVMC campus for its new police headquarters, while marketing the other buildings on the former hospital campus to the private sector. Dilapidated buildings on the 19th Street property are expected to be raised, removing a major eyesore at the southern entrance of the city. Once cleared, that property is expected to be marketed to the private sector as well.

Although it was met with criticism when the previous city council took action on it, the city's new City Service Fee -- or User Fee -- is being put to use already. For those who work in the city, $2 is collected each week for the User Fee. Half of that money will go toward the construction of new police and fire department headquarters, and the other half will go to infrastructure projects throughout the city. A prioritized list of projects to be completed with City Service Fee revenues already is being tackled.

"We're seeing proceeds come in from the User Fee, and those are being put right back to work in the community," Elliott said. "We're expecting about $800,000 -- which is half of the $2 User Fee funds for fiscal year 2020 -- we're expecting those funds to be used on projects right away.

Among User Fee infrastructure projects being completed right away are slip repair projects along Warwood Terrace and on multiple sections of Glenwood Road.

"City staff will be installing signs on these locations indicating which projects are being funded by the User Fee," the mayor said. "But just going forward with the list that the Public Works Committee compiled last year, we'll go through those projects one by one and get these projects done. So we're going to see real improvements made in the community."

Other entities are also spending money as well to improve the community, the mayor noted, pointing out the work that has been taking place to fix property at the corner of 16th and Main streets downtown.

"The surface lot there had a lot of underground tanks," Elliott said of the reconstruction of the lot. "I don't know the exact number, but millions of dollars in money has been spent there on a very visible block there in downtown Wheeling."

West Virginia Northern Community College is getting ready to move forward with a project to create green space just south of 18th Street, the mayor said. The prior city council approved closing that street for the college's benefit in exchange for their commitment to invest in a green space at that site that will connect pedestrians to Wheeling Creek.

"There are a lot of improvements taking place across the community," Elliott said. "I left several out there. But I just want to ask folks just to remember that we really are a city on the mend right now. A lot of people are making a lot of important investments into how the city looks, feels and functions. So it's very exciting for the years ahead."