Written by Wheeling Park High School’s , . Alexandra is a contributing writer to The Park Press.
A Beloved Landmark, Lost and Found
Formerly in Wheeling, the Ohio Valley General Hospital lights shone brightly over the city until it was renamed the Ohio Valley Medical Center and later ended up permanently closing in 2019. Many citizens in Wheeling were distraught when the OVGH lights, an important landmark, were removed from the smokestack that they were mounted on. When asked to restore the letters, Mr. Fedorke and his Machine Tool Technology students took the job.
Mary McKinley is a current chair of the OVGH History Group. This group is focused on getting the letters restored and showing people the difference that OVGH made.
“The OVGH History group is raising funds to erect a tower with the letters on a site near the Wheeling Heritage trail. This tower will stand as a testament to the institution which had a 1914 cornerstone stating ‘For the People–By the People,’” said McKinley.
Restoring More Than Just Letters
Although to some the letters may just seem like old signage, their representation is far deeper.
“While they may be made of steel and glass the letters represent the thousands of employees and the caring that was provided to the area,” said McKinley.
This isn’t the first time that Mr. Fedorke and his students have worked with letter signs, though.
“It [the project] stemmed off of a project we did at the end of the school year for Wheeling Park,” said Fedorke. “We made this large WP that was specific for Wheeling Park, and they have it at the entrance by the White Palace.”
Instead of building the OVGH letters like they did the WP ones, there is a different process to restore these.
“We’re in the process of stripping all the older neon lighting glass tubes and all the electrical components, and then we’re going to work with the porcelain and restore it the best we can,” said Fedorke.
After removing all of the old tubing and cleaning up the letters, the students will add new neon-type lighting back in to make it look similar to the original.
Students Bring History Back to Light
“Once we have that done, they’re going to put it [the letters] on a tower down in Wheeling, supposedly, like a 50-foot tall tower and they’re going to rehang them,” said Fedorke.
It’s incredible that Wheeling Park students have been given the opportunity to restore these letters, especially considering the history and heart behind them. Once they finish, their efforts toward the restoration will hang high in the city of Wheeling for everyone to see, as well as remember the impact of OVGH.
This story was originally published on The Park Press on November 10th, 2025.
