WHEELING — Officials at WVU Medicine have selected a New Jersey firm to head the demolition of the former Ohio Valley Medical Center buildings to make way for construction of a new, state-of-the-art regional cancer center.

Local demolition company Raze International Inc. of Shadyside, Ohio — which submitted a lower bid for the job — is in the process of protesting the bid award, asserting among other arguments that the New Jersey company F.R. Beinke Wrecking Inc. is not licensed in West Virginia to perform excavation work that will be required as part of the massive project.

On Wednesday, WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital announced that F.R. Beinke Wrecking Inc. of Swedesboro, New Jersey, had won the contract for the massive demolition project. The company — also known as FRB — submitted a “budget-friendly bid of approximately $6.8 million” for the job, according to an announcement made by the hospital on Wednesday.

Two weeks ago, bids were opened for the OVMC demolition job, and WVU Medicine officials noted that a total of six bids had been received. Early estimates projected that the demolition cost would be between $7 million and $9 million. The bids that were received ranged from $6.7 million to $17.5 million. Out of the six firms that submitted bids, two companies were to be called in for interviews.

WVU Medicine’s John Pastorius, vice president of support services for Wheeling Hospital, and Bruce Knepper and Ling Almoubayyed, project architects for The Smith Group, led the charge on interviewing and surveying potential demolition companies, officials announced on Wednesday.

“With great confidence in their capabilities and expertise, we are eager to commence work on the agreed-upon terms and look forward to achieving successful outcomes together,” Almoubayyed said.

“I look forward to our partnership with F.R. Beinke on this project,” said Pastorius, who officials described as no stranger to large projects and investments. “In addition to numerous letters of community support, they have shown their commitment to the details and complexity of this project with the number of hours spent on-site in preparation of their bid. I am confident after our in-depth scope review that they have a well-planned method for successful and timely completion.”

That completion should be sometime in the fall of 2024. Demolition is expected to begin early next month and is expected to take approximately 14 months to complete.

On Wednesday, officials from Raze International – owner Thomas Brown and Vice President Patrick Kirby – explained why they are protesting the bid award. The final bid award announcement was expected to be made in early August, but Brown said that they received word late Tuesday afternoon that the bid was going to be awarded to FRB.

“We asked for a bid review and a protest,” Brown said. “We feel there wasn’t due diligence done during the interview and background check process.”

Brown said Raze is a local company with local employees and is licensed and insured to perform all aspects of the work – from asbestos abatement to demolition and excavation. He added that Raze International submitted the lowest qualifying total bid at $6.949 million – and total bid with deduction of addenda in the bid specifications of $6,782,224. Meanwhile, FRB submitted a total bid of $6,988,000 – with a total bid with deduction of addenda in the bid specs at $6,820,288.

Officials at WVU Medicine noted that the bids were very close and that both companies submitted the lowest qualifying bids and were the two firms that were given interviews as part of the selection process after bids were reviewed.

Kirby said officials from Raze were interviewed on the Tuesday after the bid opening. In the days after the interview, they heard through the grapevine that letters of support were subsequently being sent on behalf of the out-of-town firm, which he said was unusual.

“We tried to figure out what was going on,” he said. “We were told that no one submitted letters of support for us. But we put all of that in our bid package.”

Officials from Raze noted that FRB is not licensed to perform excavation work in West Virginia. Excavation work would include touching anything underground during demolition, including removal of footers and other subterranean structures, according to Brown.

Phillip Carl, director of communications and marketing at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, on Wednesday said that FRB was completely up-front about its credentials during the bidding and interviewing process. It was noted in FRB’s documents that a West Virginia excavation license had not yet been obtained, but it was stressed that this would not be an obstacle for them to complete the project.

“They knew that when they put their bid in,” Carl said of FRB’s excavation license. Company officials made the panel at WVU Medicine aware that the FRB would either obtain licensure in West Virginia to perform excavation work or simply subcontract out that aspect of the job.

“Their thorough preparation and ability to articulate their plan within the scope of the project were things that stood out,” Carl noted of the proposal from FRB.

WVU Medicine officials added that FRB is a full-service, union demolition contractor with more than 100 million square feet of safe and successful demolition projects under their belt. They are expected to hire local union trade workers during the demolition process, Carl said.

Officials noted that the bid review process not only relied on the initial bid submissions but also on the interviews and negotiations with the panel. It was determined that FRB was the best bidder and most qualified to do the massive job out of the half dozen contractors from the Ohio Valley and from other parts of the country that submitted proposals for the multimillion-dollar job.

A meeting between Raze and members of the interview panel is expected to take place next week as part of the requested bid review.

The demolition of the remaining buildings on the OVMC campus is being funded by several entities. The city of Wheeling is providing $2 million, Ohio County is providing another $2 million and WVU Medicine is kicking in $3 million. The city received $500,000 in federal funds for asbestos abatement involved in the project.

In total, there will be seven buildings that will come down during demolition. After serving the community for many decades, OVMC closed its doors permanently in 2019, and soon afterward, the city of Wheeling took ownership of nearly all buildings on the campus to help shepherd the sprawling property into the most viable future to benefit the community.

That came with the partnership with WVU Medicine and the announcement of plans to build a new regional cancer center on the property. The facility is expected to offer a wide range of services, including medical oncology, radiation oncology and mammography services, a melanoma center, a specialty pharmacy, telemedicine capabilities, multidisciplinary tumor boards and academic research facilities.

Preliminary plans call for a four-story facility with between 75,000 and 90,000 square feet of space, a workforce of about 150 employees and a service volume of about 40,000 patient visits per year. It is estimated that the center could be opened within five years.

Wheeling Hospital CEO Douglass Harrison on Wednesday said he is aware of what this project means to the Ohio Valley and of the legacy the property has.

“The new regional cancer center will transform cancer care in our area so that our community has the most advanced cancer care available,” Harrison said.