The new Wheeling City-County Building was dedicated on January 30, 1960, replacing the former West Virginia State Capitol building that had served as the city-county building since 1885. The dedication ceremony featured remarks by local leaders like Mayor John J. Gast as well as West Virginia Governor Cecil H. Underwood, who cut the ribbon to officially open the $2.4 million building. Constructed over several years beginning in the late 1950s, the modernist brick and granite structure was designed by local architect Frederic Faris the younger to consolidate city and county government offices. While criticized by some as aesthetically uninspiring, the more functional building designed by Faris helped facilitate improved city and county services. The dedication marked an important milestone for Wheeling city infrastructure modernization.
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Photo Credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wheeling Intelligencer