Renovations Continue at Wheeling Park White Palace

Demolition work continues on the old side steps to make way for new ones at the Wheeling Park White Palace.

WHEELING – Renovations to Wheeling Park’s White Palace are moving along with an anticipated completion date of late May for the $3.2 million project’s first phase.

Herb Faulkenberry, vice president of sales and marketing at Oglebay Park, said the project is moving forward with no deviations to the original plans for Phase 1 or Phase 2 at this time.

“Phase 1 consisted of the renovation to the ballroom, the White Palace’s ‘sense of arrival’ and the addition of the ‘Proudly Serving Starbucks’ coffee shop,” he said.

Faulkenberry said the veranda still is in the plan, which is considered part of the ‘sense of arrival’ which includes the grand staircase, veranda and pre-function area.

“We are very excited to have Wheeling Park’s White Palace being restored to the scale of its historic grandeur while adding some new features that will benefit all of the city of Wheeling,” he said.

photo by: Photo by Shelley Hanson

Work continues to build a new deck for the future coffee shop inside the Wheeling Park White Place.

The exterior is also being refreshed with a new side entrance to a new ballroom staircase.

“Roof repairs at the ice rink will start shortly after ice skating ends,” he added.

Waller Construction is the contractor on the job.

Funding for the project is being handled jointly by the Wheeling Park Commission, Oglebay Foundation and federal American Rescue Plan Act money from the city.

The White Palace was constructed to replace the original Wheeling Park Casino building that burned down in 1925. A public fundraising campaign at that time raised $125,000 for the project, equivalent to about $2.1 million in today’s money. Otto Schenk, president of the chamber of commerce at the time, made the largest donation. The palace is named after him: the Otto Schenk Memorial Pavilion.