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Thanks for your post, CTMountaineer. The history that has been lost (and is still being lost) in Wheeling is a crime, and mostly thanks to ignorance on the part of city leaders.
The project is planned years in advance.
Insider buy up what land they can.
Buildings are bought and left to decay...that way it seems like a service to raze them.
The real estate is bundled together (reappraised) and sold a few times through dummy corporations to get the cost up.
Those corporations then go out of business and no paper trail can be found.
Out of State contractors get the bids and pay the bribes.
Few of the workers are local people.
Politico's get rich....cities take 2% for B%O...1/2 % for Building Pernits and ice their pension plans.
The answer would be the least costly... put the highway in the air as it was done in Portland, Oregon and Seattle.
An Interstate highway on concrete pillars is a wonderful thing with a wonderful view.
Our leaders are lost in ignorance...most think that vacationing at Myrtle Beach qualifies them as being a world traveler.
The project is planned years in advance.
Insider buy up what land they can.
Buildings are bought and left to decay...that way it seems like a service to raze them.
The real estate is bundled together (reappraised) and sold a few times through dummy corporations to get the cost up.
Those corporations then go out of business and no paper trail can be found.
Out of State contractors get the bids and pay the bribes.
Few of the workers are local people.
Politico's get rich....cities take 2% for B%O...1/2 % for Building Pernits and ice their pension plans.
The answer would be the least costly... put the highway in the air as it was done in Portland, Oregon and Seattle.
An Interstate highway on concrete pillars is a wonderful thing with a wonderful view.
Our leaders are lost in ignorance...most think that vacationing at Myrtle Beach qualifies them as being a world traveler.
God help us!
Bingo! In Wheeling, unfortunately they have it down to a science.
The state government refuses to do this, as it sides with the money, but the federal might.
The federal government already has made these buildings landmarks. They are within the boundaries of the East Wheeling National Historic District, and they are contributing structures, but that does not protect them from being demolished. It only provides tax incentives and other benefits for rehab. I found each of these buildings listed, with the date of construction (many pre-Civil War) on a National Historic District listing.
The French Quarter would be nothing had it been razed...Old Town Savannah, Charleston, how about art noveau Miami...? China Town in Seattle? Nob Hill in San Francisco...St Augustine, Fla. Georgetown, DC...
The only thing that is happening is this.
A history is being destroyed to line pockets...after the history is the area identity and after that is the paved area with water control...
Remember, We are only Western Virginian's and they have always known best....
Since the days of George Washington...they have always known best.
The sad thing is that Wheeling was historically the largest city in W. Virginia, and also one of the oldest, so it had WV's best antebellum architecture. That is all being lost. If you look at the US census for largest cities from 1830-1900, Wheeling shows up every decade within the top 100. Wheeling was significant to American history, and was one of the biggest cities west of the Appalachian Mtns.
Don't tell this to city leaders, though. They want a ballpark instead of antebellum history.
The sad thing is that Wheeling was historically the largest city in W. Virginia, and also one of the oldest, so it had WV's best antebellum architecture. That is all being lost. If you look at the US census for largest cities from 1830-1900, Wheeling shows up every decade within the top 100. Wheeling was significant to American history, and was one of the biggest cities west of the Appalachian Mtns.
Don't tell this to city leaders, though. They want a ballpark instead of antebellum history.
Wheeling was an industrial powerhouse that rivaled Pittsburgh in the 1800s. National Road meant Wheeling was actually more on the map than Pittsburgh for that century. The town's heavy was strong right up until the mid 1980s, then it dropped like a rock. Until that time, though, there was a strong interest in preservation activities and it was faddish to live in a restored Victorian. I did so for several years.
Wheeling was an industrial powerhouse that rivaled Pittsburgh in the 1800s. National Road meant Wheeling was actually more on the map than Pittsburgh for that century. The town's heavy was strong right up until the mid 1980s, then it dropped like a rock. Until that time, though, there was a strong interest in preservation activities and it was faddish to live in a restored Victorian. I did so for several years.
Wheeling was certainly a rival for Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh was always clearly above Wheeling in terms of population, and even moreso when you factor in the population of Allegheny City (North Side). Pittsburgh first shows up on the 1810 census of largest cities in the US. That's early. Wheeling didn't show up until 1830 or 1840, and still was way behind Pittsburgh. The thing about Wheeling, though, is that more of its antebellum architecture survived than in Pittsburgh. Wheeling WAS mostly intact, until recently. Pittsburgh lost a lot in the urban renewal decades. Another city with similar early architecture is Brownsville, PA. I have been in contact with the preservation groups in Brownsville, and they are taking steps to preserve their history. I guess for every city that destroys their history, there is a city that preserves it, or at least I'd like to hope so.
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