The battle of Ohio Street may be over.

A state official ruled Friday afternoon that Kansas University cannot tear down three century-old houses to make room for scholarship halls.

Terry Riordan, left, Janet Gerstner and Greg Hickam are pleased to find out that three houses on Ohio Street will not be demolished to make room for new scholarship houses.

Ramon Powers waited until his last hour on the job as director of the Kansas State Historical Society to issue the decision. He retired Friday.

The decision also could retire a battle that has raged between the university and the Oread Neighborhood since early 2001, when KU purchased several homes in the area.

In Friday’s ruling, Powers said destruction of the houses in the 1300 block of Ohio Street would encroach upon the “historic environs” of the nearby Usher House (Beta Theta Pi fraternity), 1425 Tenn., which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

“The houses in the 1300 block of Ohio are … character-defining features” of the Usher House neighborhood, Powers wrote.

KU officials issued a three-sentence written statement in response to the decision.

“We are naturally disappointed in the decision,” KU spokeswoman Lynn Bretz wrote. “We need to review it before commenting further. No action is anticipated at this time.”

The Oread Neighborhood Assn. and the Lawrence Preservation Alliance had opposed the demolition, saying the homes should be restored and that scholarship hall construction represented unwanted KU encroachment into the neighborhood.

Members of those organizations were jubilant upon hearing about the ruling.

“I’m very pleased,” said Pat Kehde, preservation alliance president. “I think those houses, that whole street, deserves to be rehabbed, lived in and carry on being useful dwellings for people.”

Janet Gerstner, who helped lead the opposition for the neighborhood association, agreed.

“All the homes are great houses,” she said. “They’re all different, they all have character … they all have great histories associated with them.”

The Kansas University Endowment Association purchased the homes last spring; in June, the neighborhood raised its concerns about the demolitions.

Decisions like the one made Friday usually are settled at the local level, but the location of these homes on the boundary between campus and the city altered the usual process.

The matter came before both the Campus Historic Preservation Board and the city’s Historic Resources Commission because changes to buildings and property near historic sites must be reviewed before proceeding. Besides Usher House, the homes are also near Spooner Hall, at 14th Street and Oread Avenue, another National Register property.

The campus board voted in August to approve demolition. The city board voted against it in September. A joint October meeting of the groups was the last chance to end the impasse before sending the matter to the Powers, but neither side gave any ground.

Powers’ decision broke the deadlock between the two boards. It also applied only to the Usher House environs. Spooner Hall, he wrote, is a “university setting” not defined by the houses.

Kehde was concerned at the narrowness of the ruling, which she thought should have included both historic sites.

“That’s pretty strange,” she said.

Despite KU’s assertion that no action is planned, opponents say they expect the university will appeal Powers’ decision to the governor.

“There’s more down the road,” Kehde predicted.