The fact that a decision on razing three houses in Lawrence has landed on the governor’s desk may indicate some weaknesses in the state’s historic preservation review process.

It’s hard to understand how this issue arrived at this point, but it just seems that something is amiss when a decision on whether to raze three houses in Lawrence has to be made by the governor of Kansas.

The story in Wednesday’s Journal-World said that Kansas University Chancellor Robert Hemenway had appealed to Gov. Bill Graves in hopes of obtaining permission to raze three houses owned by the university in the 1300 block of Ohio Street. The university wants to use the property to build new scholarship halls, but residents of Oread Neighborhood are protesting the encroachment into their residential area.

KU’s Campus Historic Preservation Board contended there was “no feasible and prudent alternative to demolition.” But both the Lawrence Historic Resources Commission and the state’s historic preservation officer agreed the properties should be saved. Hence the appeal to Graves.

It is interesting that owners or residents of the two “historic” buildings that supposedly would be negatively impacted by the KU project didn’t file any protest against the scholarship hall plan. But other neighborhood residents were critical of Hemenway’s action because they have been meeting with KU officials and hoped to reach a compromise in the dispute.

“Compromise” probably means a plan that would prohibit the university from building one or two halls. Hemenway’s action indicates KU officials did not think the university’s best interests and future would be served by what was being proposed by those opposed to the halls. So the issue now is headed to the office of the governor, who has questionable qualifications to referee a Lawrence land-use conflict.

It is puzzling that those who concerned and interested in the so-called historic houses had not demonstrated their deep concern about these houses by buying the structures and restoring them to their original condition. The houses had been on the market, but it wasn’t until the university announced its desire to build the scholarship halls that the Oread Neighborhood historical community went public about its fascination with the houses.

This is a difficult situation in which both sides have valid concerns. But regardless of how this dispute is settled, the fact that it has landed on the governor’s desk seems to indicate that the state’s process for reviewing historic property issues may need to be revisited.