Wheeling Officials To Open First Round of Demolition Bids

Eric Ayres

WHEELING -- Bids are scheduled to be opened this week for the initial group of properties slated for demolition in Wheeling. Those bids are part of city council’s unprecedented $1 million commitment to remove dilapidated structures from neighborhoods during this fiscal year.

Members of Wheeling City Council in recent years have taken on aggressive demolition contracts, but none of the previous efforts have come near the $1 million mark for a single-year’s effort. This year’s demolition schedule is so extensive, city leaders opted to break the massive list of properties into four separate demolition projects for the sake of expediting the work by not inundating a single contractor with scores of buildings to tear down and remove.

When all is said and done, up to around 80 to nearly 100 dilapidated eyesores in the city will be razed, and those properties will be cleared, officials estimated.

Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said the first contract for this fiscal year’s demolition work should be ready for city council’s approval soon.

"The first of four demolition contracts utilizing the $1 million that city council had allocated is currently out to bid," Herron said. "That involves 19 different properties. The bid opening for that contract is Sept. 13."

Most of the properties - some duplexes - set for demolition as part of the initial contract are dilapidated homes on Wheeling Island. They include: 102 N. Wabash St., 24 Virginia St., 28 Virginia St., 110 Ohio St., 519 S. Front St., 523 S. Front St., 210 S. Penn St., 83 Ohio St., 89 Ohio St., 204 N. Erie St., 209 N. York St., 8 Vermont St. and 10 Georgia St.

Ward 2 Councilman Ben Seidler, who represents Wheeling Island, has been a staunch proponent of efforts to clean up neglected and dilapidated properties in the city. Seidler made the push for cleaning up eyesores in the city a primary pillar of his agenda during the campaign for his seat on city council, and since then has helped orchestrate and back efforts that included a massive Wheeling Island community cleanup, enhancements to the city’s code enforcement reporting system and a targeted city wide code enforcement blitz against abandoned and junk vehicles on properties.

Seidler said the removal of blighted and abandoned homes of Wheeling Island is undoubtedly another step in the right direction.

"I’m incredibly thankful to our city staff and members of city council for their hard work and support on this effort to demolish these dilapidated buildings once and for all," Seidler said. "We’re fully committed to restoring our neighborhoods, and with bringing these down, we need to do everything in our power -- including code enforcement, financial incentives and other means -- to prevent additional buildings from reaching this point of disrepair moving forward."

Also included on the first list of demolition projects in the city are a stretch of abandoned and deteriorating old homes on Stone Church Road in Elm Grove. They included structures at 142, 159, 161 and 167 Stone Church Road.

More dilapidated properties throughout the city are expected to be included in demolition contracts that will soon be put out to bid. Wheeling’s Department of Economic and Community Development has maintained an overall master list of properties set for demolition. Although the draft lists are fluid and subject to change, more addresses of properties continue to be added to upcoming lists to be put out to bid once all of the necessary inspections of the structures are completed.

"We also have hired an asbestos abatement inspector to finish up the approximately remaining 80 properties," Herron added. "As those inspections come back in tranches of 20 to 25, we’ll put those projects out to bid as well. So we are making progress."

Each of the contracts include both asbestos abatement as well as demolition and removal of debris from each property. Once bids are submitted and council approves contracts for each of the four groups of demolition projects, the contractor will have 60 days to complete the work, city officials indicated.

All of the demolition work on this year’s schedule is expected to be completed by March 31.