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Future Police Headquarters To Be a ‘Beacon’ in Center Wheeling

WHEELING -- Officials in Wheeling expect the city's new police headquarters to not only bring long-overdue improvements to the department's facilities, but also serve as a cornerstone for a new future of the town's epicenter.

A ceremonial groundbreaking was held Thursday at the site of the new Wheeling Police Headquarters -- the former Valley Professional Building at 2115 Chapline St. The building was most recently part of the Ohio Valley Medical Center complex, which closed in the fall of 2019 and was acquired by the city last year.

"The police headquarters project involves the renovation of approximately 30,000 square feet at a cost of $6.5 million," City Manager Robert Herron said. "It will replace the current 4,500-square-foot facility inside the City-County Building.

"This is an exciting day, and we look forward to a successful project -- and a ribbon cutting in about a year."

The Waller Corporation of Washington, Pennsylvania, recently was awarded the general contract for the project, which was designed by M&G Architects and Engineers of Wheeling. Renovations are expected to begin next week.

"Almost a quarter (of the) way into the 21st century, our police department is finally going to have a 21st-century facility to work out of," Mayor Glenn Elliott said. "That's going to be good for them, and that's going to be good for the city, as well."

Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said there were points in the past that he never thought he would see the day that a groundbreaking actually took place for a new police headquarters in Wheeling. He noted that the road to get to this point was a long and rocky one, with a lot of twists and turns over the past several years.

Returning to the Ohio Valley in 2012 after working for more than two decades in law enforcement in Virginia, Schwertfeger said he never saw the inside of the current Wheeling Police Department facilities until after he accepted the chief's position and reported for his first day on the job.

"I was a little bit taken back, to say the least," he said, noting that the cramped quarters are outdated and grossly inadequate for the department's needs. The current space -- from where the Wheeling Police Department has operated since 1959 -- has a small and insufficient evidence room, no women's restrooms, no sally port, no lunch rooms and no meeting rooms to accommodate more than four people.

The new police headquarters will bring an "efficient, professional and functional work space" to the department, along with a new sense of pride in their workplace among the officers and other men and women who serve in the police department.

"They will have the ability to train," Schwertfeger said. "They will have a safer workspace, will finally have the ability to seek accreditation and will have an improved opportunity to recruit and retain.

"This physical structure will be more than just a police headquarters, it will be a beacon in Center Wheeling and throughout our city," Schwertfeger said, expressing a sincere thanks to the many people involved who have worked in recent years to bring the project to fruition.

Architects designed the plans for the renovations to retrofit the existing building to one that meets the needs of the police department, working with the chief and other police officials to develop the designs. For the past several months, the patrol division has been operating out of the building as it presently stands, but the facility is expected to be gutted, as most of the rooms are currently designed as doctor's offices, exam rooms, waiting rooms and other spaces typical of a medical facility.

The main entrance of the building -- where Thursday's groundbreaking took place -- will get a new edition with an attractive stone and glass lobby that will include photographs from throughout the department's history. There will be a safe room at the entrance where someone can enter and lock the door behind them in the case of an emergency.

On the ground level, there will be a large evidence unit, a sally port and rooms for civilian staff such as victim's advocates, as well as a large training room for programs such as the Citizens Police Academy and training sessions with other police agencies. The second floor will have additional meeting spaces, training rooms with simulators, officer work spaces and an investigations unit. On the third floor, there will be administrative offices, a locker room and a 2,000-square-foot fitness center.

"When the Secret Service wants to work with us because we have a president of the United States coming to Wheeling, we'll be able to have a secure place to meet," Schwertfeger said. "We've never had that. We've had to go to one of the colleges or some other location."

The new police headquarters is being funded through the city's new user fee, which was implemented last year. The $2 per week fee is charged to people who work in the city of Wheeling, with $1 of that fee going to infrastructure projects and the other $1 going to public safety facilities -- including the police facility renovations and future construction of a new Wheeling Fire Department headquarters along 17th Street in East Wheeling.

Money generated through the user fee will repay bonds financed through Main Street Bank. In terms of generating funds for the project, the city manager said Thursday that the city is already halfway to their goal while still well within the projected $1 per week threshold.

Following a campaign to garner community support for a new Public Safety Building for the police and fire departments -- including public tours of the current facilities, a public safety levy was placed on the ballots in 2018 as the initial effort to generate funding for the new facilities. The levy received nearly 54 percent support.

The mayor noted that in most states -- actually in 49 other states -- that would be considered a landslide win in electoral politics. In West Virginia, however, it is a four-point loss, because a 60-percent approval is required.

City officials took criticism for moving forward with the unpopular decision to implement the User Fee to fund the public safety projects. Officials said that despite the levy's defeat, a majority of voters supported it, and the need was one that called for action. In the long run, it was the right decision, according to the mayor.

"I do believe when these projects are completed, the community will be very proud of the facilities that are available to them," Herron added.

"Trust me, it's a fantastic day," the chief said following the groundbreaking ceremony, noting that the new facility will help project "pride and professionalism" of the Wheeling Police Department.