Plans are moving forward for what could simply be a new $60 million to $80 million medical education center at Washington State University’s Spokane campus.
The project, called the Team Health Education Building, could be built on one of the other two locations as part of the Elson S School of Medicine. One of them is the southeast corner of Spokane Falls Boulevard and Sherman Avenue.
WSU Spokane spokeswoman Chantell Cosner said planners would likely build the new construction on the northeast corner of North Pine Street and East Main Avenue, near the historic Jensen-Byrd warehouse at 131 E. Hand.
“We’re comparing both,” Cosner said. We’re reading the economic effect and how the progression of the two sites would have compatibility on campus, as well as the bridge and urban amenities. Right now, this southwest side of campus seems like an opportunity we’re looking for. explode.
No decision has yet been made on the long-term 200,000-square-foot Jensen-Byrd building, a six-story brick design that has survived several previous demolition efforts.
However, none of the plans include the renovation of Jensen-Byrd’s warehouse, which is different from Jensen-Byrd’s similar hardware construction of the same name at 320 W. Riverside Ave.
In 2015, the estimated cost of renovating the Main Avenue warehouse was between $55. 5 million and $61. 3 million.
Eric Smith, director of services and capital projects for WSU Spokane, said school officials have not updated estimated prices for renovating construction since the most recent figures were released.
Cosner said the upcoming construction would complement the future one, without specifying what will happen to the Jensen-Byrd construction.
“It’s simply about how we situate the new building, but also how we build around it,” he said. “As a result, we hope to provide a more detailed view of progress on the south side of our campus, which is where we have the maximum room for growth. “
WSU owns and maintains the Jensen-Byrd warehouse developed through O. C. Jensen and Henry Brooke, who founded a hardware store in 1883 in Sprague.
The store moved to Spokane in 1895. La company, which became Jensen-Byrd Co. in 1925, it operated in the two Riverside buildings and then transferred in 1958 to the main warehouse for its wholesale business.
Jensen-Byrd then built a distribution center in Western Plains. The company has been known as Emery Jensen Distribution since Ace Hardware Corp. it acquired it in 2015.
The university came close to demolishing the Jensen-Byrd warehouse in 2011, when WSU tentatively agreed to sell it to a Texas-based company looking to build a new mixed-use facility that included apartments and retail space.
Spokane Preservation Advocates questioned the legality of the demolition, and the company pulled out of the deal in 2012.
The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation makes it to its list of “Most Endangered Places. “
As for new construction, WSU Spokane has already secured about $7 million in public funding, and that initial cash is being used to plan construction and how it fits into the overall vision of campus leaders, Cosner said.
According to WSU, the Team Health Education Building would house up to 1,200 academics and a healthcare simulation center.
School officials have selected Bouten Construction and NAC Architecture as design partners, and Cosner said the structure could begin as early as 2025.
“We are committed to creating a facility that meets the desires of the local network and regional fitness providers and is encouraged through the most advanced physical education spaces in the country,” said Eric Smith, director of facilities and capital projects for WSU Spokane. . in a press release. These ongoing discussions are surely critical to the process. “
As design and plan development continue, school officials are also looking to increase the budget needed to build the structure.
“We plan to move to the state for further investments and collaborate with our philanthropic partners,” Cosner said. “These things take time and have an effect on the scope, length and feasibility” of the building.
It’s not yet clear when a resolution will be made on how WSU will incorporate or demolish the Jensen-Byrd building, Cosner said.
“Obviously, you have a primary vision for development, you have to think about the existing structures and how to use them more productively throughout the long term of the property,” he said.