Wheeling Council, City Offices Temporarily Relocating Until 2026

WHEELING -- Council Chambers is expected to be closed and other city offices will be temporarily relocated at least through the end of this year as ongoing improvements inside the City-County Building will soon reach the first floor.

City officials had anticipated the looming displacement as the building’s $12 million renovation has made its way, floor-by-floor, down to street level.

"We have received word that things are progressing and that this will be the last city council meeting for several months in this room," Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron reported this week. "City council will be relocated to the second floor courtroom. The Finance Department, Water and Sewer, and Accounting Department will be relocating to the former police department area here on the first floor of city hall next week."

Offices for the Municipal Court and Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department will also be moving.

The "swing space" previously occupied by the Wheeling Police Department has already been renovated, and that area along with the former law library on the fourth floor have served as temporary locations for displaced city and county offices as renovations have been taking place for a project that has now stretched on for years.

Spearheaded by Ohio County, which owns the City-County Building, the renovations are updating the facility’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems throughout the building. Work is also being done to configure some of the workspaces in the facility, and some new lighting, new ceilings and masonry improvements have also been part of the upgrades that have been taking place since 2022.

Herron said the exact length of time that city offices will be relocated is presently unclear.

"We anticipate - best case scenario - three months," he said. "But this is a big floor, and until we get into it, we’re really not sure what the length of time is going to be. But it’s going to be three to five months that the relocation will occur."

Earlier this year, several city offices were relocated when construction had reached the third floor of the building. The City Manager’s Office, Human Resources Office, Community Development and Planning Department, Building and Zoning, Engineering, Legal Department and City Clerk’s Office were among those departments that had been temporarily displaced.

The city of Wheeling leases space for municipal offices from Ohio County.

In order to contribute to the costs associated with the major renovation project, the city in 2022 approved terms of a revised lease with the county. Officials explained that the revised lease includes the original annual amount of $192,496 for city offices, plus 40% of the annual debt service for the renovation project.

"Things are progressing," Herron said. "We are working very well with the county on this project. I know that everybody who works in this building and visits this building will be glad when this project is completed."