‘Local’ and ‘green’ ignored

As a local small-business owner that occupies a historic warehouse building in downtown Spokane, I was dismayed to learn about the fate of the Jensen-Byrd Building and the award of the project to outside developers.

Historic warehouses such as Jensen-Byrd embody architecturally significant resources that are hard to replicate or recover, from heavy-timbered columns and beams to load-bearing bricks. In addition to these resources, the embodied energy of the structure itself is impossible to recover. Total new building construction worldwide amounts to half of the total greenhouse gas emissions.

Washington State University could have also considered the impact its decision would have on our local economy. When an institution decides to hire an outside company rather than a local one, we can expect to see much of that money leave town. While an out-of-town company might hire local construction workers, most likely they will not be supporting local accountants and other support positions.

In a world of contracting energy resources and capital, just about two of the greenest and economically viable things WSU could have done would have been to restore an existing building and to hire a local developer. It chose to do neither.

Juliet Sinisterra

Sun People Dry Goods Co.

Spokane