City May Help Fund Major Wheeling Artisan Center Renovation
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WHEELING -- Officials in the city of Wheeling are considering a request for $750,000 in additional funding to help complete a major renovation project planned for the Wheeling Artisan Center.
Members of the Development Committee of Wheeling City Council recently heard details of a request for funding being sought by Wheeling Heritage, which has put together the plan for what is expected to be the first multimillion-dollar upgrade to the downtown Main Street landmark in decades.
Scott Schenerlein, executive director of Wheeling Heritage, originally submitted the request earlier this spring when the city was soliciting suggestions for projects that should be considered for funding through American Rescue Plan Act funding. The city of Wheeling received a total of around $29.5 million in federal pandemic relief funds through ARPA.
While it is unclear whether or not the Artisan Center renovation project will be ARPA eligible, city officials indicated that the city is likely to support the proposal and find funding to help bring it to fruition.
The city was approved for a $1 million federal earmark for the Artisan Center renovation. The earmark was included in a Congressionally Directed Spending bill that was passed earlier this past spring. A total of around $3.8 million in earmarks were approved for a handful of projects in the city earlier this year.
Schenerlein said funding from the earmark has not yet been received, but required plans and documents have been filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and other entities in hopes that the funds will soon be released.
"Wheeling Heritage has paid for the conceptual drawings and designs, and is in the construction document phase right now of the project," he said. "All that is to help us move forward with getting the funding."
Originally, the plan had been for a $1.5 million improvement. However, the current economy and continued rise in construction costs have caused the estimated price tag for this project - like many other construction projects in recent months - to escalate.
"In the process, construction has gone up as it relates to prices, so basically, it’s going to be a $2 million project when it’s all said and done," Schenerlein said. "So we were requesting some American Rescue Plan Act funds to continue the project, which we think we can start in 2023 if we can get everything in line."
The last major refurbishing of the Artisan Center took place in 1996, more than 25 years ago.
"On the first floor, we’re adding another space for another tenant, which will then give us an opportunity for more revenue which can go back into the Wheeling Heritage Foundation," Schenerlein explained. "We won’t need that money to operate."
As part of the plan to reconfigure the facility, the Artisan Center Store on the second floor also will be brought down to street level on the first floor for easier access and more exposure. The store offers a variety of locally crafted and locally produced items, from unique arts and crafts to locally harvested honey and myriad of other merchandise.
"Where the store vacates on the second floor, we would then be able to put two offices in there which will also produce rental, which will be able to go back into that fund," Schenerlein said.
River City - the lower level restaurant and bar that anchors the first floor - will undergo a re-configuration as well. The restaurant is expected to relocate its seated dining area into the space occupied by the bar, as opposed to the current configuration in which the bar and main dining area are separated by the building’s atrium.
"The restaurant will move over onto the bar side of the building, and it will also produce outdoor dining when the Streetscape comes through," Schenerlein explained. "The whole atrium also gets a refinished floor, and the bar is going to be enclosed a good bit so you’re not having noise from the bar bleeding over into the atrium, which is also a source of rental for River City and for Wheeling Heritage."
Restrooms will also be redone, and the video lottery room will be re-positioned to the rear of the building, Schenerlein noted.
"Just for the benefit of those who do not know, the city of Wheeling is the actual owner of the Artisan Center," Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott said, estimating that the city is into the first 25 years or so of a 99-year lease. "Ultimately, this is a city-owned building, and if this building was to generate economic activity, part of the goal here is to bring the retail application from the second floor down, get some more first-floor traffic and make that gift store a lot more viable going forward while still preserving the restaurant aspect as well."
Officials noted that even if the $750,000 request was approved by the city and the $1 million federal earmark is received, the project will still have a funding gap of more than $200,000.
"We’ll have to figure out some additional funding or we’ll have to value engineer the job to see what we can do to make it fit," Schenerlein explained, noting that they do not want to leave any aspects of the plans out, but they may have to work with the project architects from the Mills Group to do so. "We ultimately want to get it done, but it’s going to have to come within that (budget).
"To do a nice job, we’d really like to see the whole thing come to fruition."
While the proposal first came to the city as an ARPA request, officials still need to determine whether or not direct federal pandemic relief funding can be used. If not, another funding pool of pandemic relief funding with less stringent eligibility guidelines may likely be used.
City leaders indicated that they have the funding to help move the project forward.
"This is something I’m very, very excited about," Elliott said, noting that he has been a longtime member of the Wheeling Heritage board, although his most recent term just expired. "I know that it’s been important for the organization to get better use out of that building and maximize revenue for the organization’s long-term viability."
Schenerlein said he would be hesitant to put the project out to bid before funds from the federal earmark were released. However, the goal is to get the ball rolling on the renovations in 2023.
"I think the restaurant will actually benefit by having a condensed space and getting some more density in it," Elliott said. "I think getting the first-floor retail space down is going to help the gift shop, and the outdoor dining component will be a nice addition as well.
"It’s a very exciting project, and I can’t wait to see it happen."
Members of the Development Committee of Council unanimously agreed to approve a recommendation for the project. The matter will be forwarded to the full city council for consideration and, potentially, final approval.