Shelley Hanson Trending
WHEELING -- Officials in Wheeling celebrated one of the busiest weeks the city has seen in years, noting that despite the labyrinth of downtown construction, hordes of visitors were able to make it downtown to enjoy an array of popular events.
Over the past week, two popular annual festivals, a major state conference and a nationally televised basketball tournament drew thousands of visitors to Wheeling. The events turned a city that is literally engulfed in construction into a major tourist destination for several days in a row.
Despite the potential challenges of welcoming so many visitors to a downtown that is a sprawling construction zone, city officials said everything went very well.
"It was a great week in the city," Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott said recently at Oglebay, where the West Virginia Municipal League held its annual conference. "The TBT basketball tournament was a great success.
That went on at the same time as the Italian Festival and the Grecian Festival -- both great successes -- and you follow that up with the conference here this week.
"We've had a lot of people -- a lot of tourist dollars -- coming into the city, and it's great to see."
The mayor indicated that tax revenues should be impacted by an economic boost.
"It will be a few weeks before we can see what those numbers actually are, but we really like to see all of those people spending money in Wheeling," he said. "It's just a sign of good things to come."
City Councilman Jerry Sklavounakis said the events that draw so many people to town are key ingredients to the formula that gives citizens of the city a reason to be proud.
"We had a lot going on, and it shows -- I think -- the quality of life that we have here in Wheeling, not only for people who work here and live here, but also for all of our visitors," Sklavounakis said. "I'd like to congratulate the TBT basketball tournament. From what I understand, it was a great success -- I know I enjoyed a few games there myself. I'd also like to thank the organizers of the Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival for putting on another wonderful event, and I'd also like to thank the members of St. John the Divine Greek Orthodox Church down in Center Wheeling for the Grecian Festival."
Sklavounakis said he is a member of that church and the local Greek community behind it. The Grecian Festival is something that the parishioners always look forward to each year, and they appreciate the public's tremendous support.
Councilwoman Rosemary Ketchum noted that the West Virginia Municipal League's 54th annual conference brought hundreds of municipal leaders from throughout the Mountain State to Oglebay Resort this week.
"I'd also like to acknowledge the folks here at Oglebay for hosting the Municipal League," Ketchum said. "This is the second time since I've been a member of council that Oglebay has hosted the Municipal League, and it's very refreshing and exciting to see folks who have never been to the city of Wheeling come here for the first time, have Oglebay be their introduction to the city and listen to them kind of rave about the city and the amenities here."
Ketchum said many of the visitors have mentioned how beautiful Oglebay is and have asked about what else was happening around the city and in the downtown.
"And I have to say 'a lot,'" Ketchum noted. "We're very excited and grateful that all of this is happening, and we ask them to return."
Councilman Ben Seidler gave a shout-out to the city safety and operations staff members who helped make the many events happening in Wheeling go so smoothly during the major influx of visitors to the many destination events.
"I also want to thank our police department, our fire department and all of our city employees who really stepped up to make those events happen downtown," Seidler said, noting that the sprawling maze of construction -- particularly with the Downtown Streetscape Project -- did not create as much of a hindrance for motorists as many had anticipated it would. "Surprisingly, traffic was OK. People made it through downtown, which was really exciting. And it seems like all of these events were a big hit. So congratulations to the city of Wheeling for a great week."
City Manager Robert Herron thanked the city's police, fire and operations departments for a job well done, congratulating the police and fire chiefs and their staff members for providing their services during such a busy week with many visitors pouring into Wheeling.
"With all of the various events they were asked to cover, as well as traffic control -- it went very well," Herron said. "They were spread very thin, but they were able to cover all of the various events, and I think it came off very nicely."