Photo by Eric Ayres Instead of a ribbon cutting, city leaders took part in a “ceremonial uncoupling of the hose” on Wednesday to celebrate the official opening of the new Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters in East Wheeling.

WHEELING — Instead of an official ribbon cutting ceremony, city officials gathered in front of the new Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters on Wednesday to take part in a “ceremonial uncoupling of the hose.”

The long-awaited opening of the new fire department headquarters in East Wheeling was celebrated by scores of local officials who gathered outside the new facility on Wednesday. The sprawling new headquarters located along 17th Street — with an address of 1700 Wood St. — is fully operational and was officially in service as of this week.

“This nearly $10 million project involves a 25,000-square-foot, incredibly functional facility with a well-thought out floor plan, exceptional accommodations for the firefighters stationed here and efficient training spaces and administrative offices,” said Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron. “Everyone involved on behalf of the department are true professionals committed to our current firefighters as well as those who follow them in the future. Congratulations to the dedicated men and women of the Wheeling Fire Department.”

Herron said the new headquarters is centrally located with easy access to W.Va. 2 and Interstate 70, as well as many neighborhoods in town. The facility is not only home to the department’s administrative offices and new training facilities, it also houses Ladder 1, Engine 2, Engine 8 and Squad 7 in a response district that covers East Wheeling, North Wheeling, the Central Business District and Center Wheeling to 27th Street.

The new multimillion-dollar facility brings yet another investment to the East Wheeling neighborhood. Directly across Wood Street is the new Ace Garage location, representing a major private investment next door.

“Not only is East Wheeling a strategically beneficial spot, it’s our honor to bring this marquee public safety facility to this wonderful neighborhood,” Herron said.

Construction of the new headquarters was funded through the City Service Fee — also known as the User Fee. The fee was implemented by a prior city council, charging $2 per week for each person who works in the city. Out of that $2 charge, $1 goes to public safety — which was used to fund the new police and fire headquarters projects — and the other $1 goes to help fund needed infrastructure projects.

“I’m very proud of what has been accomplished utilizing our citizens’ hard-earned weekly service fee,” Herron said. “This project, as well as the recently completed police headquarters in Center Wheeling will honor the $1 commitment made at the beginning of our journey to upgrade facilities for our first responders.”

Herron noted that the fire headquarters project began under the watch of former Fire Chief Larry Helms, who served from 2007 until his retirement in 2021. The project took many years to come to fruition and took “countless hours of planning,” Herron said. Jim Blazier took the reins as fire chief in 2021, and according to the city manager, Blazier truly took the ball with a full head of steam to carry it across the goal line.

“This is not only an exciting day for the Wheeling firefighters, but also for all of the citizens and visitors to the city of Wheeling,” Blazier said. “This state-of-the-art facility will serve as a hub for the Wheeling Fire Department for generations to come.”

The “monumental task” of making the concept of the new fire headquarters become a reality took significant efforts by the previous administration and the entire staff, Blazier said.

Delays mounted during the construction phase of the project after the original contractor, &build, a PCS Company — filed for bankruptcy halfway through its completion. The department had to continue operating through the legal process that helped get the project back on track under a new general contractor.

During that time, the previous fire headquarters was closed and vacated in order to allow the city to move forward with the demolition of the former Center Wheeling Parking Garage. The former fire headquarters had been housed in the lower level of the parking structure. The department’s administrative offices and other staff members had to temporarily relocate to the Armory building in Clator, while some staff and equipment were temporarily moved to other satellite stations while construction continued on the new headquarters.

“Crews were displaced, equipment was stored all over the city, stations were crowded, and it has not been business as usual for the past 18 months,” Blazier noted. “The men and women of the Wheeling Fire Department have displayed true professionalism, adjusting and overcoming obstacles, just like they do every day for the citizens and visitors of our city.”

Wheeling Mayor Denny Magruder thanked the men and women of the fire department — both current and former — for their courage and service to the city. It truly has been a long time coming, the mayor noted.

“All major projects along the way have their challenges in delays and all of those kinds of things, but the fact that we’re here this morning in front of this spectacular building shows the resiliency of this city, and we’re really proud of that,” Magruder said. “One of the finest fire headquarters in the United States just happens to be home to one of the fire departments in this country, as well.”

In the wake of the previous contractor’s bankruptcy, Great Lakes Construction was named as the new general contractor for the project and oversaw the completion of the new fire headquarters. Herron praised the new general contractor for their “quality workmanship, professionalism and a get-it-done-right attitude — particularly in light of the horrible general contractor issues that unfairly affected this project, its completion time frame and most importantly our firefighters.”

Herron also thanked the subcontractors, M&G Architects and Engineers, City Solicitor Rose Humway-Warmuth for navigating through the legal hurdles with the previous general contractor, Assistant City Manager Bill Lanham, the Wheeling Municipal Building Commission that helped put the financing in place for the project, the mayor and city council — both current and former, and all of the fire department personnel.

“Finally and most importantly, thank you for the citizens of Wheeling for entrusting us with your tax dollars,” Herron said. “It’s a tribute to all that you value the safety of our community to the level of providing such a building for your fire department.”

Members of local clergy also took part in Wednesday’s ceremony, offering prayers and blessings on the new facility.

The public will have an opportunity to tour the new Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters during an upcoming open house slated to take place later this month on Sept. 27.