Much work has been undertaken over the past two decades to clean up the hundreds of severely blighted properties around Wheeling. According to City Manager Robert Herron, thanks to federal taxpayer dollars from the COVID-19 pandemic, that work is nearing its end.

“The Building and Planning Department came to me and indicated that they have about 25 properties left to finish out their list — the famous list of dilapidated structures,” Herron told members of Wheeling City Council’s Finance Committee Tuesday.

The cost to demolish those remaining properties is estimated at about $300,000.

“The (city’s Building and Planning department) has requested — if possible — that city council consider an additional ARPA allocation of $300,000 to deal with those 25 remaining properties,” Herron said. “That’s an average cost of $12,000 per property, which is pretty accurate.”

When this round of demolitions are all said and done, Wheeling, over the past two decades, will have demolished more than 200 structures. Most of those are residential, with some commercial buildings as well.

But as a drive through town illustrates, there’s still much more work to do.

Nearly all city neighborhoods have room for improvement. There remain properties that are both a health and a safety issue to those who live nearby. This is an old community, with an old housing stock. It’s unclear if the work ever will end.

Wheeling City Council — both the current iteration and also the past two councils, going back to the administration of Mayor Nick Sparachane — has prioritized doing as much as possible to remove slum and blight from city neighborhoods. The process isn’t easy — it shouldn’t be, as it involves bringing down a privately owned structure — but in the end, for the city to have a chance to grow and reinvent itself, badly neglected buildings can’t continue to litter city neighborhoods. The city also has been diligent in placing liens on demolished properties so that city coffers can be made whole.

“These demolitions have been incredible for our neighborhoods and in helping reduce the risk to first responders since these places burn down. This is great use of the money, in my opinion,” Wheeling City Councilman Ben Seidler said.

“I think we can see the effects of this program all around town,” Mayor Denny Magruder added. “If we can get that list down to zero and maintain it, I think it will be a big win.”

Keep the demolition work ongoing. It is paying dividends to the overall well-being of our city.