Currently, logs are kept of #wheel 24/7. They're simply logs that I'll never have to look at. The thing with chat is that it's a completely different than a forum. It serves a different purpose and it's a different method of communication. When I log into IRC, I do so blankly. I don't have any...
I've not witnessed any "nasty blow ups and gossip" in #wheel in the past two or so years. Though I suppose the forums have plenty of that, and those messages don't just disappear.
See, but the glorious thing is that I can actively be on IRC and have notifications on when I am, and then leave IRC and not be bothered by it again until I log back in. :P
Please don't move chat to some kind of modern chat service. :| In my opinion, the brilliance of IRC is that you can just log out and then it's not there. If I have to receive notifications from dozens of Tower members chatting every day, I'm going to go mad.