06/13/2025
UPDATED 6/16/2025
Due to recent flooding, Wednesday's Community Meeting for the Wheeling Gateway Center has been postponed. Our thoughts are with our friends, families, and neighbors during this difficult time.
**************************************************
For Immediate Release
Community invited to help bring Wheeling’s history to life at new Gateway Center
Contacts:
Frank O’Brien, Wheeling CVB: 304.233.7709 / [email protected]
Olivia Litman, Wheeling CVB: 304.233.7709/ [email protected]
Wheeling, W.Va. (June 13th, 2025) – The Wheeling-Ohio County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), Wheeling Heritage and exhibition design firm TimeLooper invite residents to help shape a major new tourism attraction at the Wheeling Gateway Center. A community meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, in the Capitol Theatre Ballroom, where attendees can share ideas and priorities for the center’s immersive Heritage Experience. The event offers a chance to influence how Wheeling’s story will be told to future visitors, connect with the project team, and get a preview of what’s next on the horizon for the Gateway Center.
The Heritage Experience is an integral part of the new Wheeling Gateway Center, designed to engage visitors and locals alike with a journey through the city’s rich past and vibrant culture. This timeless, adaptable exhibit will use immersive digital storytelling and innovative technology to bring Wheeling’s history to life. By blending compelling narratives with interactive experiences, the exhibit will make the past feel vivid, accessible and personal, inviting audiences to see Wheeling not just as a place, but as a story still unfolding.
“At its core, this exhibit is about honoring and showcasing Wheeling’s unique identity. That story can’t be told without the voices of the people who live here,” said Andrew Feinberg, Principal and Co-Founder of TimeLooper. “Wheeling’s story is the community’s story, and we want this experience to reflect the depth, pride and resilience that define it.”
The project team aims for the development and Heritage Experience to act as a true Gateway to the City, guiding visitors to explore Wheeling’s historic sites, cultural institutions and local businesses. Whether you’re a first-time tourist, a local student or a lifelong resident, the exhibit will offer something new to discover and be proud of. With the support and guidance of the West Virginia Department of Tourism, the Heritage Experience is poised to become a national destination for the visitor experience and a model for how heritage tourism can fuel connection, education and local economic growth.
“The Wheeling Gateway Center and Heritage Experience have the potential to become a national destination that not only celebrates our city’s history but also encourages visitors to explore everything our community has to offer,” said Frank O’Brien, Executive Director of the Wheeling-Ohio County CVB. “We want the Center to be more than a stop along the way for visitors, it’s a starting point for deeper engagement with Wheeling’s culture, businesses and people.”
TimeLooper was selected in February 2025 to lead the design of the Heritage Experience following a competitive RFP process managed by the Wheeling-Ohio County Convention and Visitors Bureau in collaboration with Wheeling Heritage, Wheeling Heritage Foundation, Ohio County and Desmone Architects. The firm’s innovative approach and emphasis on community-driven storytelling aligned closely with the mission and goals of the project, making them an ideal partner to bring this vision to life.
The Heritage Experience is a key element of the future Wheeling Gateway Visitors and Heritage Center, a development project set to redefine the City of Wheeling’s primary entrance from the I-70 corridor, situated next to the iconic and historic Wheeling Suspension Bridge, and bolster economic growth through tourism in the Northern West Virginia panhandle.
Visit the Eventbrite page to RSVP for the community meeting and receive event updates: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-meeting-help-shape-the-heritage-experience-at-the-gateway-center-tickets-1407554656869?aff=oddtdtcreator
For more information about the Wheeling Gateway Center project, visit https://wheelinggateway.tippingpointdev.com.
