Abandoned hotel in Indiana

Hotel LaFontaine, Huntington Indiana

Date added: April 10, 2023 Categories: Indiana Hotel

As the only major hotel building in Huntington, the Hotel LaFontaine served many years as a commercial center for Huntington.

The original owner of the LaFontaine was J. Fred Bippus, descendant of a pioneer family. The hotel was named for Chief Francis LaFontaine, the last principal chief of the Miami Indian tribe.

Constructed in 1925, the building was equipped with a "dead level" roof, a type new at that time, designed so that additional floors might be constructed without removing the roof. The skeleton of the building was designed to carry two more floors on the main portion of the building if desired, while the rear of the building was planned to carry six more floors. Because no ordinary beams could be used to strengthen the floors above the swimming pool, the floor is spanned with four huge steel girders, weighing six tons each, capable of carrying a total load of 625,000 pounds in the center. Steel joists are used in the floors as they were said to be more flexible than concrete and also reduced the weight.

The interior of the Hotel is also notable. The decoration includes luxurious materials and details that are unusual in a building in a town the size of Huntington.

The LaFontaine was recognized as the center of Huntington's commercial activity and, in fact, housed the Chamber of Commerce as long as it was open. In addition to providing office space for several industries, and well-designed sample rooms, the hotel itself was a highly successful venture for many years, playing host to many famous guests such as Ronald Coleman, Amelia Earhart, and Henry and Edsel Ford, who stopped here every year on their way to and from the Indianapolis 500 Race. Countless salesmen and vacationers would plan their itinerary especially to permit a visit to this incredible hotel, and the city enjoyed the benefits in a great many ways.

As the unofficial social and commercial center for nearly 50 years, the LaFontaine was woven into the life fabric of Huntington residents in so many different ways. It was the scene for countless graduation proms and parties, wedding receptions, anniversary and retirement celebrations and any number of other festive occasions. On its opening day it attracted a crowd of 8,000 as Johnny Weismuller and other noted athletes competed in a World Championship Swim Meet, where a new world record was set.

The Hotel LaFontaine closed in 1974 after a bankruptcy auction, and has been vacant since. The building has been neglected and vandalized. Although structurally sound, the building needs repair. A local incorporated group has prepared applications for federal funding to renovate the building as senior citizen housing.

Building Description

The Hotel LaFontaine is located on the north corner of the intersection of State and Cherry Streets in the central business district of Huntington, which is composed of late 19^th and 20th-century buildings.

The Hotel, Colonial Revival in style, features a south-facing, six-story central pavilion, with a five-story wing on each side attached at approximately a 45 angle. There is a two-story section between the wings at the rear. The elevator shaft extends one floor above the roof level and is surmounted by a large neon sign, "Hotel LaFontaine."

The central pavilion is four bays wide,and each of the wings has five bays on the ground floor and nine bays on the upper floors. The building is of steel-frame construction faced with vitrified shale brick, backed with hollow tile. The roof is flat.

The entry, not original to the building, is a glass and aluminum enclosure, with an aluminum canopy topped with neon letters, and two pairs of glass double doors. The inner doors are two pairs of French doors with three six-light windows above each pair. On each side of the entry is a large, multi-light window. The upper floors of the central pavilion have four pairs of double-hung windows per floor, with eight lights in each sash on the end bays, and six lights in each sash in the inner bays.

On the wings, windows are paired casements with eight lights in each sash, flanked on each side by an eight-light, fixed sash, with a multi-light transom above. On the west wing there is an entrance, a multi-light single door with a classical entablature, multi-light sidelights and transom, in the second bay from the front. On the east wing, there are entrances identical to this in the second and fourth bays from the front. Upper-story windows on the wings are double-hung with eight lights in each sash.

The Hotel has a pressed metal entablature, enriched with dentils and modillions. Among other decorative elements are Bedford limestone molding between the first and second floors, projecting brickwork in panel-like arrangements between the first and second floors, between the first, fifth, and sixth floor windows,and surrounding second story windows. Windows on the third, fourth, and fifth floors are headed by a vertical row of bricks, with sills of projecting brick headers. There is a limestone water table surrounding the building at about one foot above ground level, as well as limestone coping at the top of the building. Projecting above the central pavilion is a low parapet wall with a shell and scroll motif.

The interior of the building includes a lobby designed to resemble a Spanish courtyard, with a fountain made of tiles imported from Spain, and a multi-colored terrazzo floor. The dining room is in the Old English tavern style with imitation Caenstone walls above dark oak paneling and a hand-molded clay biscuit tile floor. An Adamesque ballroom with decorative plaster moldings, and a Viennese style summer dining room are among other features of the Hotel. One of the highlights of the LaFontaine is the Egyptian swimming pool in the basement. When it opened in 1927, it was the largest pool known in any hotel in the nation. The wall in the pool area is covered with large mural paintings on canvas done by George Hamilton Thomas, of Chicago.