Byrd Brainstorm Redux
February 3, 2012 
5 Comments
I talked a while back about the upcoming demolition of the historic Jensen-Byrd building in the University District. 
And a fine tragedy it would be to lose this beast. But Campus Advantage, the purchaser of Byrd, will have to jump through some hoops in order for this all to work. And Councilman Jon Snyder recently cooked up a resolution that asks if the company and WSU would reconsider the plan to demolish, or build the apartment complex elsewhere. (Word has it that Jensen-Byrd’s been nominated for a place on the National Registry of Historic Places, creating yet another hoop for Campus Advantage to jump through.)
At next Tuesday’s council meeting, this resolution will be brought forth, and they’re taking testimony. That’s 6 p.m., February 6th, in the Spokane City Council chambers. Show up, tell the council why they need to keep the building, and hopefully, we can have a shot at saving it.
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Apparently I haven’t been in Spokane long enough to understand this conflict. What’s the big deal about this building?
Well, for one, it’s hella old. I’m not exactly sure why it isn’t on the historic registry but it should be. And if some work was done on it, I think it could have a lot of potential to be awesome once again.
I don’t know, it just seems so wasteful and extravagant to demolish it and build something new.
While I’m rarely for keeping something around just because it’s old, it would be nice if could get a Saranac-style renovation. It really isn’t a very fetching-looking building, is it?
Historic preservation isn’t necessarily about how fetching a building is, but rather about whether it demonstrates a form of architecture representative of its time. As far as whether it’s in the interest of the community to preserve it, please consider the embedded energy and materials in the work. It’s more sustainable to reuse than to discard.
My impression with historic preservation is not one of red tape. Having a property listed on the national register is only commemorative and has no regulatory effect. It can be placed on the national registry one day and torn down the next. The city’s registry does have regulatory effect, but the property owner must volunteer. Historic recognition has no hammer, but a carrot is extended in the form of tax credits for historic preservation/renovation activities.
Aside from interesting examples of architecture, properties and places can get on the National Register or the Spokane Register for being the site of historic events or the residence/business/etc. of famous people.
Jensen Distributing’s website has a little history on the company, but it doesn’t sound significant enough to be added to the register: http://www.jensenonline.com/History.aspx