photo by: Joselyn King

Frank O’Brien, executive director of the Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau, addresses those invited who turned out for “Lunch With Zach” Monday at The Highlands Event Center. The luncheon included a discussion of local development projects.

WHEELING — Wheeling’s streetscape project is about a year away from completion, the number of people visiting Ohio County approached 4 million last year, and there are people relocating to Wheeling because they want to live here.

Those were all bits of information learned by those invited to “Lunch With Zach” on Monday at The Highlands Event Center. The event brought together community partners in Ohio County’s “Growth and Retention Initiative,” who all provided an update on the projects they are presently working on to increase population and attract business to the county.

Among those speaking was Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron, who said the partners work well together and “are pulling the community in the right direction.”

“The city of Wheeling has a number of projects — most of which you know about,” Herron said. “The streetscape project is about a year away from completion.

“We’re super-excited about the WVU Medicine regional cancer center project. Demolition is occuring at the old OVMC (Ohio Valley Medical Center) site, as well as the parking structure across the street.”

He provided an update on the proposed hotel construction announced for downtown Wheeling at 14th and Water streets earlier this year.

“There is still a concerted effort to put that project together,” he said. “The city has acquired a number of properties for that project, and we’re hopeful that all the capital financing will be completed by the first quarter of next year.

“And we still haven’t given up on the Wheeling-Pitt Lofts project. Right now that project is on hold, but we’re still optimistic that project has a future.”

Herron added that he would be presenting to city council at the end of this year or the first of next year a proposal for about $65 million in water and sewer infrastructure projects in the city that would occur “over the next three to four years.”

“We do have a solid infrastructure system in Wheeling that promotes and can sustain economic development,” he contained. “We want to make sure we keep the water and sewer systems up to speed.”

After the first of the year, Wheeling City Council also will have to decide the fate of the former Clay School building, according to Herron.

The redevelopment project on the 14th block of Market Street is also close to landing its final funding after Ohio County commissioners agreed to apply for the final grant funding that was needed, he said.

“Lunch With Zach” was organized by Ohio County employees at the request of Commissioner Zach Abraham. He said the partnership among the participating entities was formed with the goal of not just attracting new business and increasing population, but envisioning what challenges the area might face if Wheeling’s population would quickly jump to 65,000 or 70,000 people.

Among the needs would be housing and adequate recreational spaces, Abraham said.

He said Ohio County has made great strides in recent years in developing The Highlands and The Highlands Sports Complex, and bringing a greater focus to the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport.

Frank O’Brien, executive director of the Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau, noted it is a goal of the area to attract remote workers.

“And to be a remote worker, you have to visit the area first,” he added. “The good news is that between 3.5 million and 4 million people every year come to Ohio County. They come to see the lights at Oglebay. They come to see attractions at Wheeling Island Racetrack and Casino. Tens of thousands come to The HIghlands Sports Complex to participate in athletic tournaments.

“So when you put all that together, we’re in a good position to grab some of those people … once they’ve experienced what they are here for originally.”

Those visitors also spend money locally in hotels, restaurants and shops, O’Brien continued.

And the visitors’ first impression of Wheeling also will be improved by completion of the downtown streetscape and the new Convention and Visitors Bureau along Main Street near the historic Suspension Bridge, he added.

O’Brien announced that demolition crews will begin to pull down the walls of the former Wheeling Inn building that sits on that site on Oct. 9.

“It’s going to open up a view to the (Ohio) river and the Suspension Bridge like you’ve never seen before,” he said. “It’s been 150 years since you’ve been able to see the bridge on Main Street. We’re pretty excited about that.”

Three families also spoke about why they opted to move from somewhere else in the country and relocate to Wheeling in recent years.

Richard and Randi Murphy had been living in New York City during the COVID pandemic and opted for the less congested Wheeling. They purchased the former Exley home along National Road across from the entrance to Wheeling Park.

Carmel and Lane Sanders purchased a home on Wheeling Island after moving here from Texas in May. Carmel explained they wanted to move to Wheeling after driving through the area on Interstate 70. They saw the area covered with snow from the highway and thought “it looked like a Christmas village.”

John and Heather Hughes also came to Wheeling from Atlanta after the COVID pandemic showed the business world “things could be done differently” and employees could do their jobs from anywhere, John Hughes noted. Hughes’ background is in commercial real estate, and 10 years ago he left that business to join a technical services firm.

He reported that in 2019 – a year before moving to Wheeling – he spent 200 nights in hotels.

His employer found out in 2020 it was cheaper to have its workers do their jobs from home.

“We became empty nesters, and we didn’t have to live the life we did raising our kids,” Hughes added. “We made a list of things we wanted and started looking for places that met that list. Wheeling kept coming up.”

They visited six times before they found the house they wanted on 14th Street and bought it.

“We wanted an historical house that needed work. We wanted a project,” he said.

They also wanted to be able to walk to local attractions.

“We wanted things to do,” Hughes said. “There are more things to do in Atlanta than Wheeling, but we don’t have to drive an hour to get there and deal with the traffic.”