‘Passageway’ park project planned for Wheeling

WHEELING, W.Va. – A new downtown Wheeling beautification effort aims to create a window to history in a space city leaders hope will be a vital part of the future.
The tall, wooden frames that recently appeared along the wall at the north end of the city-owned property in the 1100 block of Main and Market streets represent the start of Reinvent Wheeling’s latest project, a small park designed to provide a pleasant place for pedestrians walking through downtown. Inside the frames will be large-scale reproductions of photographs of historic buildings in Wheeling – some still around, and others that are long gone or vacant – that will serve as the focal point of the space, according to Reinvent Wheeling board member Susan Hogan.
The park will provide a nice complement to Reinvent Wheeling’s last major project, the Heritage Port Gateway Park – with its signature steel elephant sculpture – located across Main Street from the 1100 block property.
“It’ll be a place for people to sit and talk, or have lunch. … It will look peaceful and inviting, and it’s for the people to just come and enjoy,” she said.
The Hess Family Foundation provided the funding for the project, according to Hogan. It will be named “Passageway: Peggy’s Park” in memory of a member of the Hess family, she said.
The photos will include the Capitol Theatre, the Oglebay Mansion, the former Bayha Bakery and Schmulbach Brewery, and a 1910 image of the Stone & Thomas building. After the vinyls are hung, likely within the next week or two, landscaping and installation of a sidewalk and light poles will begin.
Benches also will be fashioned from recycled tree grates removed from around downtown over the years, Hogan said, and in front of each installation will be storyboard with information about the building in the image.
A contractor for the Regional Economic Development Partnership recently took soil samples from the site that will provide needed information for anyone who may be interested in the property. City Manager Robert Herron said the city is actively marketing the space and has received “preliminary” interest from potential developers.
The project was designed with the future sale of the land in mind, according to Hogan.
“In the event the property is developed, (the park) can be disassembled and moved to other sites in the city,” she said. “It’s a lot of work, but it can be done.”
Hogan said work on the park could finish by late September or early October. “In an ideal world,” she added cautiously.