Wheeling City Council Green-Lights WesBanco Arena Upgrades
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WHEELING -- Officials in the city of Wheeling are moving forward with improvements at WesBanco Arena, investing in a venue that continues to position the city as a destination for entertainment seekers throughout the Ohio Valley and beyond.
During Tuesday night's meeting of Wheeling City Council, an ordinance was unanimously approved to enter into a memorandum of understanding with RED (Regional Economic Development Partnership) for costs associated with the construction, remodeling and relocation of the commercial kitchen and the additional construction of a loge suite project to enhance the WesBanco Arena facility.
The project will create a new addition with loge seating in the 300 level at the north end of the arena's seating bowl. The improvements will also expand the current kitchen located in the club area of the arena into a full service kitchen and eliminate permanent railing in the first row of the east and west side 200-level seats, replacing them with removable railing and increasing sight lines in these areas.
Officials noted that the cost of the new improvements is expected to be around $900,000.
"The additions to WesBanco Arena are a continuing partnership between the city of Wheeling, RED and the Greater Wheeling Sports and Entertainment Authority," said Councilman Dave Palmer.
Officials on Tuesday night spoke out against criticism about the proposal leveled by one resident at the end of the previous council meeting. Julia Chaplin had questioned the need to spend this amount of money on additional improvements at the arena, a facility that has undergone significant improvements in recent years with major upgrades to the lobby area, ice rink and other features.
On Tuesday, city leaders responded to these criticisms, explaining that the funds being invested into the facility do not represent any additional costs that will be passed along to the taxpayers or the patrons of WesBanco Arena.
"These improvements will enhance the guest experience for patrons of all events that are held in the arena, and the cost is funded through the arena's Restricted Capital Improvement Program (RCIP) account. Those costs will not be passed on to the citizens of Wheeling or the event attendees," Palmer noted. "RCIP accounts are funds that are set aside, grown and then used when the need arises."
Mayor Glenn Elliott, who along with Palmer serves on the GWSEA board, noted that he has worked with the authority and Executive Director Kelly Tucker. The mayor said he knows that a lot of thought has gone into these plans.
"This is going to expand the capabilities that we have on the kitchen side of things, expand the capabilities with ticket sales with the loge suite and really just continue making investments into that arena," Elliott said. "We've seen past investments already pay some dividends, so I think this is going to help make the arena all that more competitive going forward."
A previously completed upgrade involving new dasher boards and glass, and the construction of an addition on the back of the arena was a $1 million improvement that still carries about $500,000 in debt. City Manager Robert Herron explained that the action approved Tuesday night will roll the cost of the new project and the debt on the previous project into one combined financing package for about $1.4 million via a loan through RED with a new, 10-year repayment schedule.
Herron added Tuesday that other improvements at the arena are also coming soon.
"The arena, through RED, was successful in obtaining a $650,000 congressionally directed spending allocation," Herron said. "Earlier this week, that allocation was released. It will be used for security improvements in the arena, which will include cameras, magnetometers, a key fob system and an alarm system for the arena. It will bring some of the improvements that are necessary from a safety perspective to today's standards."
City officials have commended Tucker and the team at WesBanco Arena, the Capitol Theatre and the GWSEA for working to not only bring improvements to the facilities, but to help attract big-name acts to the local facilities. The venues have recently touted successful shows by Larry the Cable Guy, REO Speedwagon and Aaron Lewis, hosted the nationally televised TBT (The Basketball Tournament) and will welcome upcoming shows by Alice Cooper, Jerry Seinfeld and many more.
In other action Tuesday, council approved nominations by the mayor to city boards and commissions. Council unanimously approved Unique Murphy to serve on the Human Rights Commission through June 30, 2026, and Roanne Burech to serve on the Wheeling Hall of Fame Board through June 30, 2025.