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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Office Hours

Can the preservationists save the Jensen Byrd Building? What’s next?

The Jensen-Byrd building in the University District east of downtown Spokane will be demolished by its new owners, Austin, Texas-based Campus Advantage. The company plans to build housing for about 425 students on the site. (File)
The Jensen-Byrd building in the University District east of downtown Spokane will be demolished by its new owners, Austin, Texas-based Campus Advantage. The company plans to build housing for about 425 students on the site. (File)

Haven't seen enough information about the Jensen Byrd building and its prospects for survival?

Look for our indepth story in Tuesday's Spokesman Review business section, covering efforts to keep it from the wrecking ball

This past year the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation added the 103-year-old JB Building to its Most Endangered list. Here is some information. http://wa-trust.org/News34.aspx.

That follows last December's announced sale of the building to Campus Advantage, which has plans to replace it with modern student housing.

The Jensen Byrd was also nominated for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2012 Most Endangered list, but it was not selected; the national most-endangererd list was published this past week:  http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered/

The national organization said it declined to add the Jensen Byrd to the list because statements by Washington State University, who is still the owner, suggest it won't face demolition until no earlier than 2013.



Tom Sowa
Tom Sowa covers technology, retail and economic development and writes the Office Hours blog.