Originally containing six turn of the century warehouse and factory buildings, the district has been reduced to just four, consisting of
Burgan's Furniture Warehouse #1 (1905), the Market Equipment Company Office and Warehouse (1946), the W.P. Fuller & Company Paint Warehouse (1915, 1938-39) and Peerless-Sunpuft Inc. Office and Warehouse (1925, 1933).
Burgan's Furniture Warehouse #2 (1904) and Burgan's Furniture "E" Building Warehouse (1907) have since been bulldozed in the interest of "civic improvement", as has a 1957 noncontributing building in the group. The demise of three buildings between Division and Ruby Streets leaves quite a hole in the district, doubtless one day to be filled with contemporary buildings, leaving the district split in two, with the Burgan's Furniture Warehouse #1 separated from the others by whatever eyesores happen to get built in the space.
Designed by Robert L. or Howard Hals, the furthest west building, the Burgan's Furniture Warehouse #1, has recently undergone major surgery. We assume it was Burgan's Furniture Warehouse #2 which adjoined the building on its east side, and which has recently been removed. The east side of the building, the lower two floors of which had long been covered by the adjoining warehouse, is now home to Caruso's, a sandwich and artisan pizza joint, and Qdoba, a Mexican restaurant. On the third floor, never covered by the second warehouse, one may still read the painted sign of the building's original inhabitant, the
Parlin & Orendorff Company, purveyors of farm implements.
Desmet Avenue Warehouse Historic District
The Desmet Avenue Warehouse Historic District is comprised of six commercial buildings constructed during the first half of the twentieth century as warehouses and factories. Located north of Spokane, Washington's historic city center hi an area which has long housed manufacturing, wholesale and retail sales, and storage-type businesses, the district represents a tight configuration of buildings with like associations. Not all contributing buildings are
contiguous: some buildings being presently separated from other structures by streets and vacant lots; a pattern which continues from the historic era.
Preferred construction materials for these types of structures were brick or concrete; five buildings have exteriors of brick with the remaining building of reinforced concrete. Height of individual structures varies from one to four stories, and all have full basements. Only one building (Market Equipment Company Office and Warehouse) does not contain a freight elevator. Built by a melange of architects and builders over a period of 42 years, all structures
share features which typify their similar functions, including large open ulterior spaces with limited partitioning; high ceilings; fenestration that allowed for maximum interior illumination; loading docks which adjoin a partially removed railroad siding; and a relative lack of exterior ornamentation. All buildings have experienced design changes to their interiors and facades; however, these are largely minor on most exterior elevations. Each building maintains an appearance as an intact historic structure.
From the NRHP Nomination Form