Work to Resume Next Week at Wheeling FDHQ Site

WHEELING - Work on the construction of the new Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters is slated to resume by next week, according to city leaders, who are eager to turn the page following a lengthy work stoppage in the wake of the original general contractor’s bankruptcy filing.

That general contractor - &build, a PCS Company - filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in March, leaving the construction of the new $9 million fire department headquarters in East Wheeling at a standstill since this past spring. Additional delays came this summer as a legal battle in bankruptcy court materialized between the surety company and the Chapter 7 trustee over pre-petition balances on these projects.

During Tuesday night’s meeting of Wheeling City Council, City Manager Robert Herron reported that work is slated to begin next week, and the new building should be finished by year’s end.

"It has been an incredibly difficult process," Herron said. "We are out of the bankruptcy process as it pertains to &build. We did get the surety company on board, and they do have a contractor. So hopefully we’ll get that project done in the next several months."

Herron said city leaders had a remobilization meeting last week with the new general contractor - Great Lakes Contracting - which was selected by the surety company.

"All of the subs are expected to be back on the job, with the first set of subs being back on the job next Monday, so we do anticipate that project will start back up in full speed," Herron said. "They should be able to just pick up right where they left. The fact that all of the subs are coming back is huge because, obviously, they’ve done all the work. They know where they left off, so they can start and hit the ground running."

The remobilization meeting went very well, noting that a new estimated finish date for the project has been established.

"Right now the contract deadline is Dec. 31," the city manager said. "That could fluctuate a little bit depending on how things go over the next couple of months. But we’re excited to get that project done. It is about 70 percent complete.

Construction of the $9 million Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters along 17th Street in East Wheeling began with foundation work and installation of prefabricated concrete walls. The exterior of the sprawling facility was finished for the most part before the work stoppage occurred, so the worksite remained enclosed during the months it sat vacant this year.

"I will say that the building made it through the shut down with little to no vandalism," Herron noted. "I compliment the fire department for checking on it every single day. It basically is in the same condition as when the contractor stopped working. So that is very good news."

The delays pushed the new completion date back from the original completion date by about one year. The fire department was set to move from its previous headquarters in Center Wheeling at the beginning of this year into the new facility, but because of construction delays that occurred last year even before the bankruptcy filing, the new headquarters was not ready.

Fire officials were forced to move to temporary locations at the beginning of the year, as the former fire headquarters location was housed in the Center Wheeling Parking Structure - which was under contract for demolition.

Wheeling Fire Chief Jim Blazier said the men and women of the fire department have remained very patient throughout the unfortunate situation.

"The administrative offices are in Clator at the old United States Army Reserve Center," Blazier noted. "Our ladder truck is running out of the station on Wheeling Island. We have our engine company from the Center Wheeling Station and our shift commander running out of the North Wheeling Station. So these stations are crowded right now."

Until the new Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters is finally completed, the crews will make do, Blazier said.

"It’s an uncomfortable situation. I feel bad for the guys, but there’s been zero complaints," he noted. "The men and women of the fire department are taking it like troopers. They’re adapting to the situation. We’re really looking forward to finishing the project so that we can get our folks back into some sort of normalcy as far as stations go. But our firefighters have been extremely patient."

Wheeling is not the only community that has experienced significant delays on a major municipal project because of &build’s bankruptcy filing. The city of Moundsville’s new $10.5 million city building, a $3.2 million Harrison County Home Addition in Cadiz and other projects have also been affected by the contractor’s legal proceedings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.