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Wheeling seeking input on Suspension Bridge Park

PARK CONSIDERED — A barge travels north on the Ohio River beneath the Wheeling Suspension Bridge. City of Wheeling officials may construct a park to the immediate south of the span, which is a National Historic Landmark. -- Casey Junkins

WHEELING — The Wheeling Suspension Bridge has been a National Historic Landmark since 1975, but many who live or work in the Friendly City cross the span with such routine that its significance can be overlooked.

City officials hope to change this by creating a park on the Wheeling Island side of the bridge on a piece of property just to the south. The city paid $91,000 to purchase this land last year.

Tuesday, city officials hosted a public meeting at the House of the Carpenter to gain input regarding the planned park.

“The plan is to accentuate the Suspension Bridge, and to tie this in with Heritage Port,” Wheeling Director of Parks and Strategic Planning Jesse Mestrovic said. “We want to create a synergy between our historic bridge, our new park on the Island, and what we have downtown.”

The recently formed Wheeling Waterfront Enhancement Committee is studying potential upgrades to the Heritage Port area. Now, after making a public request for plans, the city hired Charleston-based GAI Consultants to design the park on Wheeling Island.

Mestrovic said the final cost of the park has yet to be determined, but he said the city is seeking a grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is administered by the National Park Service. He said if the federal government approves the city’s application, the grant will match the city’s expenditures on the park, dollar-for-dollar.

As for the bridge, it originally opened in 1849, but a storm destroyed it just five years later.

“Nearly the entire structure struck the water at the same instant dashing up an unbroken column of foam across the river, to the height of at least 40 feet,” an account from the May 18, 1854 edition of The Intelligencer states.

According to the Ohio County Public Library, the bridge reopened in 1860 when Wheeling was still part of Virginia. In 1982, the West Virginia Department of Transportation spent $2.4 million to repair the cables and anchorages, rebuild the trusses and repair the bridge. In recent years, the bridge has endured some abuse from those who do not obey the posted weight and height restrictions. In early 2015, an overheight truck became wedged beneath the bridge’s overhead signs, shutting it down for two days. In October 2015, a pickup truck slammed into the sidewalk and some wooden beams on the bridge after blowing a tire. In March 2016, the driver of a commercial bus did not adhere to the bridge weight limit when he tried to cross the span, which led to yet another closure.

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