Advocacy Alert! Help Save the Jensen-Byrd Building in Spokane

• January 25, 2012
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• Advocacy Alert

Support our preservation comrades in Spokane in their efforts to save the historic Jensen-Byrd Building! This significant warehouse built in 1909 and designed by Spokane architect Albert Held for Marshall-Wells Hardware Co. is owned by Washington State University which plans to sell the property to Texas-based Campus Advantage for the purpose of demolition. New student housing would be built on the site. What is astounding about this predicament is that WSU has chosen to sell the property to an out-of-state entity with no appreciation of Spokane’s heritage when there is an alternative to sell to a Spokane-based developer who has a proven track record of rehabilitating historic buildings and would approach the project as an adaptive re-use rather than demolition and new construction.

Spokane Preservation Advocates is asking you to support their efforts by writing to WSU and asking them to develop a plan to renovate the building rather than tear it down. Details can be found on the SPA website.