Work on New Wheeling Fire Headquarters Remains Stalled Amid Contractor Bankruptcy
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WHEELING -- Work on the new Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters has ground to a halt as hearings in the bankruptcy case filed by the job's general contractor, Cleveland-area company PCS &build LLC, have been taking place.
In fact, no work by a general contractor has taken place at the site of the new Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters along 17th Street in East Wheeling since PCS &build filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy protection on March 25. Over the past few weeks, hearings related to the case have been taking place in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland.
"We do have a takeover agreement with the surety company," Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said this past week, noting that a new general contractor should be named in the near future to take over as general contractor and complete the work that PCS &build has left to do on site.
The city entered into a $9 million contract with PCS &build to construct its new fire headquarters, and ground was broken on the project in August of 2022. Herron last week indicated that although the prefabricated walls have been up for several months and the building has been enclosed, a significant amount of work still needs to be completed on the interior of the building.
"We're trying to get everything resolved as quickly as possible," Herron said, noting that a number of subcontractors had remained on the site performing work several weeks after PCS &build filed for bankruptcy.
Work on the new Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters had been moving along at a steady pace until a number of subcontractors walked off the job because of non-payment issues related to the general contractor late last year. To resolve this matter, the surety company had set up an escrow account late last year to make sure subcontractors got paid without having the funds go through the hands of the general contractor.
Things appeared to get ironed out, and work resumed at the site in January. Crews continued to make progress until the general contractor filed for bankruptcy and left the site. Several subcontractors are still owed money and payments are yet to be made as progress on the work has been left in limbo at this point, officials indicated.
The same situation occurred in Moundsville, where PCS &build was hired as the general contractor on the construction of the new city building there. The $12.5 million Moundsville City Building project kicked off in September 2022, and work there has also come to a halt in the wake of the general contractor's bankruptcy filing.
Officials in Moundsville, upon the advice of the bonding company, obtained the services of Spilman Thomas & Battle for legal representation regarding construction issues such as these.
"They will work in conjunction with the city attorney to provide any necessary legal advice," Moundsville City Manager Rick Healy said last month. "We've also been informed that Coon Restoration has a financial interest in the project, and they also have interest in assuming the general contractor duties. So at this point now, we're waiting for the necessary guidance from the legal team and the bonding company."
According to officials close to the bankruptcy case and with the latest docket entries, Steve Coon of Canton-area development company Coon Restoration, is also one of the parties tied up in litigation with PCS &build. Coon is the developer spearheading what was touted to be a $30 million transformation of the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Headquarters on Market Street in Wheeling into the History Wheeling Pitt Lofts - an apartment complex in the heart of downtown that for about a year and a half has shown no progress.
Published reports indicated that Coon - through his company, Hourglass Holdings LLC - filed legal action against PCS Companies and &build Investors late last year over contracts related to a multimillion-dollar redevelopment project north of Cincinnati.
A trustee has been appointed in the bankruptcy case filed by PCS &build, and parties are currently in discussions with the trustee about how to proceed with the unfulfilled public contracts in West Virginia, Herron indicated.
The new Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters is designed to be a sprawling 26,860-square-foot state-of-the-art first responder facility. Because of the initial delay stemming from the issue of payment to subcontractors last year, the plan for a smooth transition from the old fire headquarters to the new facility was derailed. The former Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters was located in the lower level of the Center Wheeling Parking Garage, which was already under contract to be razed. The original plan was for the fire department to move out of the old site and into the new building, then move forward with demolition of the old parking garage.
However, a contract for the garage demolition had been awarded and schedule had been put in place before the delays in the new fire headquarters pushed back the projected opening date. This caused the city to temporarily move personnel and equipment out of the old facility and into other satellite fire stations across the city and into the vacant former police station space in the City-County Building.
Since then, another temporary move was initiated after the city recently acquired the former U.S. Army Reserve Building in Clator. Until the new fire headquarters is completed, Fire Chief Jim Blazier and other administrative personnel, along with various fire apparatuses, are expected to be moved there, temporarily.