Photo by Joe Lovell The Wheeling Suspension Bridge glows at night and can be seen from Main Street downtown now that the former Wheeling Inn has been removed.

WHEELING — Piles of rubble have been cleared away, and the last remnants of the former Wheeling Inn motel have been removed to reveal a view of the historic Wheeling Suspension Bridge that has not been seen in many decades.

This week, crews from Raze International continued to work at the site along Main Street, grading the property, completing final punch-list items and clean-up work, and preparing for demobilization of equipment from the site.

The Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau owns the former Wheeling Inn property and is spearheading the effort to redevelop the site into the proposed Wheeling Gateway and Visitors Heritage Center adjacent to the Suspension Bridge. However, city of Wheeling has remained a partner with the CVB in this effort and helped facilitate the grant-funded demolition of the former hotel.

The physical demolition of the former hotel began last fall, but work moved along quickly since then. Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron reported last November that the asbestos abatement and demolition was ahead of schedule.

Raze International of Shadyside was awarded a $500,000 contract for abatement and demolition, and the cost of the former hotel’s removal will be paid with funds from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Reclamation of Abandoned and Dilapidated Properties Program. The city of Wheeling helped facilitate this grant-funded demolition.

“Demolition is substantially complete,” Herron said on Tuesday. “General demobilization and miscellaneous cleanup remains.”

Herron noted that the Convention and Visitors Bureau has met with officials from the state of West Virginia, and they have consolidated two Abandoned Mine Land grants into one. The process to clear the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Economic Development Initiative funding — Congressionally Directed Spending, formerly known as “earmark” funding — is nearly completed, Herron said.

The project has already received millions of dollars in grant funding to help transform the site and move the Gateway Project forward. Last year, former Gov. Jim Justice visited the site and delivered a $4.4 million check — dedicating economic revitalization grant funding to the downtown project.

Just prior to the start of demolition, officials from the CVB and consultant Tipping Point shared a series of conceptual designs for the proposed Wheeling Gateway and Visitors Heritage Center, a 20,000-square-foot facility that is expected to highlight the historic bridge and include indoor and outdoor spaces, viewing platforms overlooking the bridge and the Ohio River, a rooftop restaurant and ways to access Heritage Trail along the river down below.

“The process to start the design of the Gateway Center is about to begin,” Herron said. “We anticipate construction to begin in 2025, with no set schedule yet, which will depend on the design process. But more than likely it will be mid- to late-summer or early fall.”

Doug Carl, co-owner of the Bridge Tavern & Grill, on Tuesday said the perspective from across Main Street is a long-awaited and welcome view.

“From our windows looking outward at the Suspension Bridge, trust me, it’s a beautiful sight,” Carl said. “This is the first time we can see the back end of the bridge, which is remarkable.”

Before the Wheeling Inn was acquired by the CVB for $1.7 million in 2023, the Carl family had already launched a significant private investment into the revitalization of their building across the street that houses the Bridge Tavern. The removal of the Wheeling Inn, the state’s renovation of the Suspension Bridge and ongoing installation of the Downtown Streetscape Project as well as several other investments in the area have collectively created somewhat of a renaissance for the city.

“I think we were one of the first small businesses down here to make a stab at the rebirth of downtown Wheeling, so we’re really happy to see what’s happening downtown with the transformation, and this certainly is part of it all, for sure,” Carl said.