Doors are left unopened and windows are broken at the site of the former Wheeling Inn on Main Street in downtown Wheeling. The city has fast-tracked measures to have the former hotel demolished as soon as possible to address concerns about trespassing and other illegal activity at the site. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

WHEELING – Officials in the city of Wheeling have put the demolition of the former Wheeling Inn on the fast track – with one of the primary reasons being the fact that the building is no longer secured.

A new ordinance was presented to Wheeling City Council this week to award a contract with Raze International Inc. of Shadyside in the amount of $500,800 for asbestos abatement and demolition of the former Wheeling Inn. The legislation was scheduled for a first reading with a second reading and final vote before council slated for later this month, but City Manager Robert Herron urged council members to deviate from the typical procedures and pass the ordinance on an emergency basis in one single meeting on Tuesday night.

“This is at the request of the Wheeling Police Department because of the issues with vandalism, securing the doors and keeping the doors secured,” Herron said. “There’s been drug activity and homelessness in there, as well as vandalism.”

Ward 2 Councilman Ben Seidler, who represents the upper part of the downtown where the Wheeling Inn is located, had expressed his concerns last month about doors being open at the former hotel.

“I still am quite frustrated that that building is incredibly insecure at this point,” Seidler said. “The doors are wide open, some of the windows are gone. I want to make it abundantly clear that the Wheeling Police Department is not the personal security guards for the former Wheeling Inn.”

Seidler added that there are city codes that require buildings to be secure, and when police officers are called to investigate suspicious activity in and around the vacant hotel, it takes away resources.

“We have ordinances in place that require buildings to be secure,” Seidler noted. “Each and every time someone from the Wheeling Police Department has to get out of their vehicles and go walk through that building to do a check on that, it’s a Wheeling police officer that is not on patrol on the Island or in North Wheeling or in Fulton or in Downtown.”

Frank O’Brien, Executive Director of the Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau which owns the building,noted that the CVB has been in communication with the Wheeling Police Department about the building since it was purchased over a year ago. During the day, crews from Triton Construction, the general contractor for the state’s $32 million Downtown Streetscape Project, use the parking lot of the hotel as a staging area.

“We posted no trespassing signs,” O’Brien said. “Triton has a lay-down yard there for the company, and they keep an eye on the building from early in the morning until about 5 p.m. each day. I gave that police chief permission to enter the property at any time that day necessary.”

The site has been the target of vandalism, with broken windows and doors that have been busted open. O’Brien said the doors that can be seen open are the result of vandalism, and in the state that the building is in, it would be difficult to keep it totally secured.

“We’ve done the best we can with the resources that we’ve got, and more importantly, I will be able to get started on knocking this building down in 30 days or less, so that’s our goal is to get it under control. But there’s really no way to stop people from getting in that building if that’s their motivation and their full desire.”

Doors are left unopened and windows are broken at the site of the former Wheeling Inn on Main Street in downtown Wheeling. The city has fast-tracked measures to have the former hotel demolished as soon as possible to address concerns about trespassing and other illegal activity at the site. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

Herron said that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s DLAP (Reclamation of Abandoned and Dilapidated Properties) Program is providing 100% of the funding to raze the downtown eyesore. The city manager said this was another reason to quickly move on the legislation.

“The West Virginia DEP has indicated that in order to finalize the grant for the demolition of this project, the ordinance does need to be adopted, and they will fast-track approval and sign off on the reimbursement necessary for this project,” Herron said. “This is a 100-percent grant. In the event there are any issues associated with the property, the state is aware of the contingency on the allocation.”

Council members agreed to hold two readings Tuesday night and approve the contract.

“This will keep the project moving and the issues associated with it,” Herron said.

The new ordinance includes Raze’s original bid amount of $499,800, plus $1,000 for the bond required for vibration monitoring equipment that will be installed on the adjacent Wheeling Suspension Bridge during the demolition process.

The Wheeling CVB owns the building and the property on which the former hotel – also known as the Knights Inn of Wheeling – sits, but the city of Wheeling must be involved in the demolition project since money from the WVDEP’s DLAP program is being used, city leaders explained.

Herron added that the demolition project came at a good price during the competitive bidding process.

“The initial cost estimate on this project was $1.2 million,” Herron said. “Most of that was an asbestos abatement report that was very high. The bids came in much below that.”

Seidler noted that he was glad to see the demolition on the fast track, but until then, he would still like to see the building secured “until it’s on the ground.”

The CVB stepped up and purchased the former hotel property at 949 Main St. in 2023 for $1.7 million. Plans are in the works to develop a new Gateway Center at the property that is adjacent to the city’s most recognizable historic landmark – the Wheeling Suspension Bridge. Early estimates for a new Gateway Center project show a potential investment of between $13 million and $16 million.

Officials said the demolition will likely begin in early June.

Doors are left unopened and windows are broken at the site of the former Wheeling Inn on Main Street in downtown Wheeling. The city has fast-tracked measures to have the former hotel demolished as soon as possible to address concerns about trespassing and other illegal activity at the site. (Photo by Eric Ayres)