Owner renovates building
in historic downtown
area
By Hannah Brooks
Staff
Writer
A historic building downtown is being renovated
due to its prime location and for what it could do for Lafayette’s
downtown area, said Jay Reynolds, current owner of the building.
"I thought if I renovated the building it
could add to the downtown atmosphere," said Reynolds of the building
on the corner of Ninth Street and Main Street.
The highly visible location added to Reynold’s
interest in the renovation of the building. Former owner Gene Coffing
was also attracted to the building for its location.
The first floor of the building will be used for
commercial space and the upper two floors will be used to make eight
800-square-foot one-bedroom apartments.
Reynolds is naming the 120 year-old brick building
The Madison Building after his three-year-old daughter.
"It’s just that she’s a wonderful
kid," said Reynolds when asked why he named the building after
his daughter Madison.
There will still be hardwood floors in the building
because of its age. Although the building is old, Coffing said, "It’s
a strong building for how old it is."
The building used to be Reifer’s furniture
warehouse and the upper floors in more recent years had been occupied.
Coffing, owner of Color Tech Photolabs, which still
occupies the building, has been a tenant since 1989. He said that in
1912 the building housed the waiting room for the Lafayette Street Railway
Company. People traveling from Indianapolis to Lafayette were able to
transfer to the city streetcars there.
According to Coffing, Bartee’s Garage Ford
used to use the building also. It was a car dealership that sold Fords
and the Hallady car.
Reynolds said there is an old freight elevator
in the building that will remain there for tenants of the upper two
floors to move furniture.
Reynolds also said that he found a trunk full of
Spanish Bullion in the building. Spanish bullion is a form of historic
Spanish currency.
Renovation is expected to be complete by August
2002.
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