A subterranean vault is exposed during demolition at the future site of the Health Plan headquarters in downtown Wheeling.
WHEELING, W.Va. — It appears the discovery of two subterranean vaults during the final stages of demolition on the future Health Plan site in downtown Wheeling won’t delay progress on the project.
Crew members with Edgco Inc. have uncovered two buried vaults where the insurance company’s headquarters will eventually stand. They reveal an additional tidbit of the city’s history, but City Manager Robert Herron said progress will persist.
Herron said both the city and Mills Group architects who designed the Health Plan project knew about the vaults’ existence, and there are no intentions to halt demolition. Wheeling Heritage historian Rebekah Karelis believes the vaults belonged to the Welty family, storing liquor for the family’s distribution business that operated during the mid- to late-1800s…
