WHEELING, W.Va. — State lawmakers will wrap up interim committee meetings Friday in Wheeling after what’s been a busy week in one of the state’s oldest cities.
“The legislative interims meeting here is big enough but then when you combine a 150 celebration in conjunction with that visit—it pretty much tested our resources,” Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Frank O’Brien said Thursday on MetroNews Talkline.
Some of the interim meetings have been held in Independence Hall while others have been site visits. O’Brien expects a benefit from hosting the meetings.
“So when the northern delegation of lawmakers talks about a particular issue or a place or Marshall County’s natural gas or Marcellus shale they (lawmakers) have a real eye-to-eye response, ‘I’ve been there,’ and we think that’s valuable,” O’Brien said.
Wheeling has also greatly benefited from the state’s sesquicentennial celebration this week. O’Brien said Wheeling’s rich history as West Virginia’s first state capital is a big plus for the area. He said they are using more reenactments to entertain tourists.
“The reenactors really are the draw,” he said. “You can actually learn something and have a positive experience.”
MetroNews Talkline had live broadcasts from Wheeling Wednesday and Thursday.