Wheeling History: August 22--Wheeling voters decisively rejected the proposed Fort Henry Mall and abolished the Urban Renewal Authority by a two-to-one margin (1973).
The Fort Henry Mall was an ambitious downtown redevelopment project proposed in the early 1970s for Wheeling, West Virginia. Conceived as part of the "Wheeling Renaissance," the mall was designed as an enclosed regional shopping center that would revitalize downtown Wheeling and establish it as a regional commercial center for the tri-state area. The project called for covering downtown with a giant roof, creating an enclosed shopping environment between 10th and 12th Streets.
The proposed mall would have featured a civic center as its western anchor, a riverfront marina to the east, and would have incorporated the existing Stone & Thomas department store. The complex was planned to include apartment towers, a Fort Henry Museum, restaurants, and parking for 2,500 cars. Major retailers Sears, J.C. Penney, and Montgomery Ward had committed to anchor the facility through developer Arlen Inner-Cities Industries.
However, the project faced fierce opposition from local merchants organized as the "Save Downtown Wheeling Committee." Opponents argued that the plan was "entirely unfeasible, unrealistic, and financially unsound" and launched a grassroots campaign with "Fort Henry Mall No No No" bumper stickers.
On August 22, 1973, Wheeling voters decisively rejected the proposal by a margin of 8,421 to 4,021, also abolishing the Urban Renewal Authority. The failure had lasting consequences: the committed anchor stores quickly signed agreements for a separate mall project—the Ohio Valley Mall developed by the Cafaro Company, which opened in St. Clairsville, Ohio in 1978.
To learn more: Weelunk – Fort Henry Mall: Doomed from the Start? (https://tinyurl.com/36zshm2d), Archiving Wheeling – Wheeling Renaissance Part 2 (https://tinyurl.com/mvpebu3e), YouTube – Dissecting Wheeling: Fort Henry Mall (https://tinyurl.com/rs4xj64p), Wikipedia – Fort Henry (Wheeling) (https://tinyurl.com/3dvc7dfh), Ohio County Public Library Archives - LUNCH WITH BOOKS: Urban Renewal and the Destruction of Wheeling's Black Neighborhoods (https://tinyurl.com/4yba5ha9)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Weelunk
The Fort Henry Mall was an ambitious downtown redevelopment project proposed in the early 1970s for Wheeling, West Virginia. Conceived as part of the "Wheeling Renaissance," the mall was designed as an enclosed regional shopping center that would revitalize downtown Wheeling and establish it as a regional commercial center for the tri-state area. The project called for covering downtown with a giant roof, creating an enclosed shopping environment between 10th and 12th Streets.
The proposed mall would have featured a civic center as its western anchor, a riverfront marina to the east, and would have incorporated the existing Stone & Thomas department store. The complex was planned to include apartment towers, a Fort Henry Museum, restaurants, and parking for 2,500 cars. Major retailers Sears, J.C. Penney, and Montgomery Ward had committed to anchor the facility through developer Arlen Inner-Cities Industries.
However, the project faced fierce opposition from local merchants organized as the "Save Downtown Wheeling Committee." Opponents argued that the plan was "entirely unfeasible, unrealistic, and financially unsound" and launched a grassroots campaign with "Fort Henry Mall No No No" bumper stickers.
On August 22, 1973, Wheeling voters decisively rejected the proposal by a margin of 8,421 to 4,021, also abolishing the Urban Renewal Authority. The failure had lasting consequences: the committed anchor stores quickly signed agreements for a separate mall project—the Ohio Valley Mall developed by the Cafaro Company, which opened in St. Clairsville, Ohio in 1978.
To learn more: Weelunk – Fort Henry Mall: Doomed from the Start? (https://tinyurl.com/36zshm2d), Archiving Wheeling – Wheeling Renaissance Part 2 (https://tinyurl.com/mvpebu3e), YouTube – Dissecting Wheeling: Fort Henry Mall (https://tinyurl.com/rs4xj64p), Wikipedia – Fort Henry (Wheeling) (https://tinyurl.com/3dvc7dfh), Ohio County Public Library Archives - LUNCH WITH BOOKS: Urban Renewal and the Destruction of Wheeling's Black Neighborhoods (https://tinyurl.com/4yba5ha9)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Weelunk
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