Wheeling Stamping Building

West Virginia | The following is one of the success stories of the National Trust`s Community Partners (CP) program. Other case studies are available from their website:
http://www.nationaltrust.org/community_partners/ | Posted: 08/05/2003

BACKGROUND

The Wheeling Stamping Building first made a name for itself as a strategic transfer point in the profitable grocery trade between southwestern Pennsylvania, western Maryland, eastern Ohio and Kentucky in the late 19th century. Located in Wheeling, West Virginia, in the northern panhandle of the state, the four-story wholesale warehouse helped fuel the booming growth of the Ohio Valley at the turn-of-the-century. Over a hundred years later, the Wheeling Stamping Building is no longer a pivotal player in the grocery trade but its proximity to modern transportation routes has earned it a prominent role in the information age. Thanks to a $11.2 million certified rehabilitation, the Wheeling Stamping Building now serves the world as the global operations center for a multinational law firm.

THE PROPERTY

The building is a 94,000 gross square foot brick warehouse built in 1890 with subsequent additions in 1893 and 1905. The exterior features pilasters and corbelled brick, arched-topped, double-hung windows with a dentil block row under the cast stone sills. The interior consists of heavy-timber, post and beam construction. The basic floor plan is open with wood floors, unfinished ceilings and exposed floor and roof joints. It is situated next to another historic building, a multi-tenant office building and sits across the Water Street bridge from downtown Wheeling, a town of 30,000. PROJECT GOAL

The rehabilitated building will provide office space for the technological, financial and administrative operations of a 600-lawyer law firm with ten offices around the world. To prepare for this new use, the existing roof supports were replaced, steel and wood windows were repaired and code compliant elevators and stairs were installed along with new electrical, HVAC and mechanical systems. Construction began in August 2001 and was placed in service in April, 2002. The scope of work was done in compliance with the Secretary of Interior`s Standards, allowing the project to qualify for the 20% federal historic tax credit and the 10% West Virginia historic tax credit.

PRESERVATION AND COMMUNITY IMPACT

The Wheeling Stamping Building project does a service to its community on two major counts. One is that it brings new meaning and vitality to an important remnant from Wheeling`s early history. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the property stands as a tangible link to the community`s past as a commercial crossroads. Because Ohio County is today in need of greater economic growth to support a healthy economy, the business and civic community lent its strong support to this project. The project was engineered by the Ohio Valley Industrial and Business Development Corporation (OVIBDC), a $20 million nonprofit organization whose primary goal is job stimulation and economic growth in the area. The Global Operations Center will infuse important new revenue into the city and county and provide 250 mid-level management jobs to the area. The average salary of a new employee will be $37,000 per year as compared to the average of $25,000 as of 1998. Three local churches also joined together to lend their financial support to the project along with Wheeling National Heritage, in recognition of its positive potential impact on the Wheeling community and economy.

For more information contact:

Community Partners
National Trust for Historic Preservation
1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-588-6054
community_partners@www.preservationnation.org