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Mar 30, 2022
photo by: Photo by Eric Ayres
Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron addresses the crowd Tuesday at WesBanco Arena’s East Meeting Room. Herron served as the guest speaker for Tuesday’s meeting of the Wheeling Rotary Club. The city manager gave an update on the many major projects currently taking shape in the city.
WHEELING — The city of Wheeling is in a transformational period, and according to City Manager Robert Herron, a record amount of money is currently being invested into major improvements that will soon be coming to fruition.
“Right now — and I would venture to say that this is a record for the city of Wheeling — there is over $66 million worth of public investment that is currently under contract or out to bid that involves local funds only,” Herron said Tuesday before the Wheeling Rotary Club.
The city manager outlined some of the major projects taking place in the city and put into perspective the magnitude of the investments being made in the Friendly City right now.
“These are exciting times for our community,” Herron said. “The city is coming out of the pandemic, I think, stronger than we went into it, quite frankly. Financially, we are in very good condition.”
Nearly $29 million in pandemic relief funding has been allocated to Wheeling, and city leaders are currently exploring options for eligible ways to spend this one-time windfall. But aside from the millions in relief funds still to be spent, the city has already been making unprecedented investments that will literally help pave a way to a new future for the city.
Those projects include citywide water and sewer investments, the Wheeling Island Gateway Park project, new neighborhood dog parks and other continued investments in the city’s parks and recreational facilities, demolitions of dilapidated structures throughout the city, slip repairs, police and fire truck upgrades, the Wheeling Hill sidewalk repair project and significant investments in paving.
“Those are just a few of the projects that go towards that $66 million in total,” Herron explained. “That does not include the $28 million in ARPA funds that we still have available. I think it shows a commitment by the local elected officials to invest in city infrastructure going forward.”
Herron provided conceptual drawings and plans for four of the major projects on the city’s front burner, providing financial details and sharing thoughts on how these investments will have a positive impact on the city.
Those four projects he examined were the development of the new police and fire department headquarters, the construction of a new parking structure at 11th and Market streets downtown, and the upcoming Wheeling Downtown Streetscape Project that is being spearheaded by the state of West Virginia.
Those projects alone represent investments totaling well over $50 million.
Herron said the new police headquarters will be finished and ready for occupancy in September.
“Our very first major event is going to be a regional training seminar that will involve the Wheeling Police Department and other local police departments,” he said.
“The FBI, the Secret Service, the ATF and U.S. Marshall Service will be training in this facility in November, so we are looking forward to that.”
Another major project is the new parking garage on the corner of 11th and Market streets. The former Chase Bank building has been demolished, and the construction phase should begin next month on the project that is expected to take one year to complete.
“On April 11, the general contractor will begin work on this facility,” Herron explained. “It’s a $16 million project. It will be a state-of-the-art parking structure that is fully automated.”
The majority of the first floor of the six-story structure will contain approximately 10,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. The garage will have electric vehicle charging stations and key fobs for entry ways into the adjacent Chris Miller Furniture building, which is also being renovated.
“This parking structure project will leverage over $40 million in private investment just in this block alone,” said Herron.
He noted that, not only has it helped facilitate a $30 million private investment into what will become the nearby Historic Wheeling-Pitt Lofts, but it will also trigger investments into the buildings in between the garage and the Wheeling-Pitt building. Both the former Chris Miller and Subway buildings are expected to be repurposed, and Herron said the new garage will also possibly allow Williams Lea to move ahead with plans for expansion in the Stone Center.
The city is also renovating seven fire stations throughout the city and building a new Wheeling Fire Department headquarters at 17th and Wood streets in East Wheeling. The new 26,000-square-foot facility will serve as the department’s main station with bays for ambulances and the big pumper and ladder trucks. It will also have administrative offices and a state-of-the-art training facility, as well.
Herron said construction of the fire headquarters is currently out to bid, with a bid opening scheduled for April 16.
Lastly, Herron provided an update on the long-awaited Downtown Streetscape Project.
“This project is so big, it doesn’t fit on one board,” he said. “This is an incredibly complicated project. The plans alone – for just the Streetscape part of it – are over 500 sheets of blueprints. In addition to that, the signalization part of it is another 100 pages. It’s a massive project.”
Much of the sewer work has already taken place downtown, and more sewer work will be part of the state’s Streetscape project once it gets underway. A total of $25 million from state and federal funds has already been set aside for the Streetscape, on top of the city’s investments in underground infrastructure improvements. Herron noted that the city has already committed $6 million toward new water line improvements alone.
“It’s a transformational project,” he said. “We are definitely in the home stretch.”
Revisions have been addressed, and final plan approval from the West Virginia Department of Highways could come as soon as next week.
“I know they are very interested in getting this project moving,” Herron said. “We are hopeful that in the next few weeks, it will be out to bid – but ultimately, it is the state’s decision.”
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