LEADING THE WAY — Community members serving in leadership roles for the Wheeling 250 Committee pose by the official city flag displayed in the Ohio County Public Library’s Wheeling Room. From left are Travis Henline, chair of the arts sub-committee; Jeanne Finstein, co-chair of the program sub-committee; Jay Frey, chair of the Wheeling 250 Committee; Olivia Litman, chair of the event sub-committee, and Erin Rothenbuehler, co-chair of the program sub-committee. -- Linda Comins

WHEELING — With Wheeling’s 250th birthday celebration in full swing throughout this year, city leaders are taking time to reflect and ponder what’s next for the Friendly City.

“While the 250th celebration affords an opportunity to reflect on our past, we must keep looking toward our future,” Mayor Glenn Elliott said.

Elliott and other members of City Council discussed what they believe Wheeling’s future will look like in both the short term and far into the future, as well as how they hope to mold it through actions and decisions today. Part of that envisioning should involve applying lessons from the past, Elliott said.

“One such lesson is that Wheeling’s best asset has always been the resilience and ingenuity of its people,” he said. “We need to unleash that same spirit of entrepreneurship, risk-taking, and innovation that defined this city over the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We need to restore the status of our city’s downtown business district as a destination in and of itself.”

Vice Mayor Chad Thalman remarked on the investment already planned for Wheeling’s downtown and elsewhere in the short-term. Most buildings downtown are either occupied or being renovated, he said.

The city expects to see about $30 million invested to turn the former Schmulbach Building, which served as the corporate headquarters for the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp., into an apartment complex. Another $20 million will be invested in new paving and sidewalks downtown, more than $100 million to maintain and upgrades the bridges on Interstate 70 and $75 million in upgrades to all public schools in Ohio County, Thalman said.

“I can’t think of too many times in Wheeling’s history when we had so much going on and so much to be excited about,” he said.

Elliott said one of his main goals as mayor is to improve the quality of life for Wheeling’s residents, thus encouraging people to stay.

“For too many years now, our greatest export has been our people. That is slowly beginning to change, but we must keep pushing the pedal on economic development and quality of life enhancements,” he said.

“We need to continue improving our neighborhood parks and recreation system and foster more urban living opportunities to enhance the quality of life for young professionals and families with children.”

At the same time, Elliott said, Wheeling needs to work for its senior residents, as the city has a population much older than the national average due to decades of outmigration.

“This presents many short-term challenges, including in housing, health care, and in the percentage of the population we have living on fixed incomes,” he said. “We have to make sure that Wheeling continues to work for our senior population while at the same time making sure we’re doing everything we can to keep our best and brightest younger residents from leaving.”

In the short term, though, Wheeling is working to accomplish two of its larger projects — one to add new public safety facilities for the city’s police and fire departments and another to build a parking garage to accompany the residential living opportunities at the to-be-renovated Wheeling-Pitt building.

“We need to move forward with new facilities for the police and fire departments,” Councilman Dave Palmer said. “We have gone back to the drawing board and hopefully will be able to provide other options soon. As I have stated numerous times, this is not something we want, it’s something we need.”

Palmer recommended earlier this year that the city scrap its plans for a $22 million public safety building at 10th and Market Streets and pursue other options. City staff plans to present a new recommendation to council in July or early August, City Manager Robert Herron has said.

“A portion of our legacy will depend on our ability to complete the larger projects we have focused on, chief among them a new public safety building and a parking structure to facilitate the rehabilitation of the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Building,” Elliott said. “These important projects have consumed a lot of time and energy not only of members of council but also of city staff, and we are hoping to bring each to conclusion this year.”

Councilman Ty Thorngate said big changes to Wheeling also will include road and infrastructure upgrades, such as a planned $19 million streetscaping project to replace streets and sidewalks on Main and Market streets and $28 million in improvements to the city’s sewer system.

“Over the next three years, we’re going to experience more road construction and infrastructure upgrades than we’ve seen since the middle of the 20th century,” Thalman said. “These short-term inconveniences are paramount to ensure our city is capable of long-term growth in population and in commerce.”

Council members also remarked on what trends and effects will shape Wheeling across its next 250 years, such as the growth of the oil and gas industry in the region and investment in West Virginia as a whole.

“Over the next 250 years, Wheeling and the state of West Virginia as a whole are both going to experience serious transformations,” Thorngate said. “Investment in energy in the Northern Panhandle could reach upwards of $80 billion and thanks to tech companies like Facebook and Google, high-speed internet access will expand and reach all corners of our state.

“Each of these investments opens up a world of possibilities for Wheeling and I’m confident we’ll have leaders in place who will take full advantage and do whatever they can to keep Wheeling at the forefront of West Virginia’s progress.”

Elliott said that much of what happens to Wheeling over the next 250 years will depend on what happens in the world around it.

“The regional oil and gas economy is poised to continue to expand, and that will present challenges and opportunities for Wheeling leaders, businesses, and residents,” he said.

Climate is another big issue, Elliott said. Wheeling’s weather continues to become more moderate, with slightly cooler summers and generally milder winters.

“Meanwhile, the climate in many areas of the rest of the country has become more extreme and volatile,” he said. “To me, this presents an opportunity, as future city leaders will be able to leverage our relative climate stability as a selling point to businesses and residents seeking to avoid hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, etc.”

Wheeling also is tied to the future of West Virginia, Elliott said, arguing that state leaders should prioritize economic diversification and not rely on the “boom-and-bust” cycles of fossil fuel extraction.

“As long as West Virginia continues to rank at or near the bottom of every health, wealth, and well-being index being generated, it will scare away would-be investors looking for opportunities,” he said. “To the extent our state leaders are working to grow the overall economy and not repeat the mistakes of the past, the sky is the limit for what is possible in the city of Wheeling.”

Thalman echoed Elliott, stating that he’s optimistic about Wheeling’s future.

“Over the last few years, we have witnessed investments being made in every neighborhood from both the public and private sector. The city has made significant investments in our neighborhoods by focusing on paving, playgrounds and underground infrastructure. More needs done, but we are making progress,” he said.