A little less than one hundred years ago four investors in Bloomington decided that building a eight story apartment building was going to be a wise investment. Those men were Charles U Williams, Alonzo Dolan, E M Evans and A T Simmons. Other investors were offered the chance to profit as well through the purchase of bonds.
A eight story building was quite the sensation in Bloomington. No building had been built to that height before, and apartment houses were usually smaller buildings of two or three stories. The Pantagraph closely followed the story as the building rose from its foundation.
The architect, A T Simmons, planned a building of steel, brick and bedford stone. The first floor, or English basement as they called it, contained several lounges for the tenants, and a cafe was planned for this floor as well. The true basement had the facilities for refrigeration of foodstuffs in each apartment. There would be no ice delivery to the Lafayette Apartments! Package deliveries would be made through the service halls -- you could not have your packages arriving at the same door where your guests entered! Reportedly, there were incinerators in each hall, which seems a terrible fire risk. The roof had a roof garden for the entertainment needs of the tenants.
Apartments came in 5 and 6 room configurations. This included a "reception hall foyer," a large living room, kitchenettes with gas stove and dressing rooms with "portal beds." The walls of the kitchens and bathrooms were finished in white enamel and all other rooms were finished in polished hardwoods. Each apartment had a sleeping porch as well. The size of each apartment was not given in square feet, but was said to equal the first floor of an eight room house.
The floors of every apartment were Italian marble terrazo, laid by a crew of ten Italian artisans. A German stone carver created the decorations at the top of the building after it was laid in place. Many American union workers also worked on the building, and the construction was troubled a few times with strikes and protests. At one time more workers were needed and an advertisement was put out looking for more workers, but the ad promised higher wages than were already being paid to the men on the job. After a strike, the wages of the men on the job were raised to those given to out of town men.
Before construction even began forty people had completed applications for apartments in the building. The James Light family was the first to move into the Lafayette Apartments after it was finished in 1920. I have noticed during my research of families in Bloomington that it was a very popular place for the more affluent to relocate after all the children had left home or after the death of a husband or wife.