Jensen Byrd Warehouse
The Jensen-Byrd Building is an impressive six-story warehouse with a classical cornice and other detailing, located at the eastern termination of Main Avenue in downtown Spokane. An outstanding example of early-twentieth century warehouse architecture, the building attests to Spokane’s prosperity as a regional business center at the time, and today constitutes a prominent landmark where the Central Business District meets the University District, along the Division Street gateway into Spokane. Designed by Spokane architect Albert Held and built in 1909 for the Marshall-Wells Hardware Company of Duluth, Portland and Winnipeg, the warehouse was purchased by the Jensen-Byrd Company in 1958. The building, now owned by Washington State University and situated on its satellite campus in Spokane, was slated for demolition in 2005 but was saved due largely to advocacy efforts by Spokane Preservation Advocates, a local historic preservation non-profit organization. The organization is again fighting to save the building, as new plans have surfaced for the sale of the building to a development company who plans to raze it. It was recently determined eligible for the local, state, and National Register of Historic Places both under Criterion C (for its architecture) and Criterion A (for its tie to the commercial and developmental trends of the area). The building is large, unique, and structurally sound and could be one of the most sought after spaces in the neighborhood and larger area if redeveloped.
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