Those folks who battled to save the old and historic Jensen Byrd Building had their main victory last month when Campus Advantage decided to fold up and dropped plans to tear the building down. The company had signed an agreement in late 2010 with WSU to tear down the brick building and replace it with a multistory campus housing structure.

This week the next shoe fell, even though few "heard" the impact.

On Tuesday the City of Spokane officially concluded the process of revoking the demolition permit that had been issued to a demo firm hired by Texas-based Campus Advantage. The initial plans to tear down the building might have started as early as this past summer if opponents hadn't filed appeals challenging the validity of the demo permit.

The revocation at this point is mostly a symbolic moment; since Campus Advantage had already backed out of the deal.

But there was still some time left for the parties involved, including WSU, to appeal the city's permit revocation. That deadline for the revocation appeal was Oct. 10.

In any event, the status of the old warehouse building near downtown is this: WSU still owns it. WSU has the right to sell it to anyone, and even decide to demolish it if it wants to (with some conditions attached).

As of last month, WSU's position was holding pat and waiting.  Spokane developer Ron Wells has continued trying to convince WSU officials that he has a viable development plan, that would include commercial and residential units.

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