The six-story brick building at 208 W. State St. in Huntington has been an iconic landmark for nearly a century.
In its heyday, it was the 110-room Hotel LaFontaine, an accommodation of choice for the likes of Henry Ford and Fort Wayne native Carole Lombard—even the infamous John Dillinger.
But if you’ve seen the building today, you might not realize its illustrious past.
While it has been restored and repurposed as a subsidized housing facility for seniors, celebrating its 30th anniversary as LaFontaine Center, the epic story of how it was built and saved from demolition is largely untold.
Now an Auburn-based filmmaker is saving its story while there’s still time.
“We were one generation away from losing this story,” says Matthew Wayne Murray. “We felt like we had to get it, or it was going to be lost forever.” 
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Matthew Wayne Murray
As president of White Horse Entertainment, Murray is showcasing the Hotel LaFontaine in a documentary set to air sometime this spring on Fort Wayne's PBS affiliate WFWA. He is working to get the documentary on popular streaming sites like Netflix and Amazon Prime, as well, and it’s already winning the favor of many local viewers.
After a packed premiere at Huntington University Friday night, the film earned Murray a standing ovation.
Online, its seven-minute promo video received more than 33,000 views in the first three days it was live on YouTube, Murray adds.
“That’s just unheard of for a local project,” he says. “It’s had an incredible response.”
The hour-long film, "Matthew Wayne Murray Presents––The Hotel LaFontaine: A Look Back" incorporates video, archival film, and narratives. But it’s not your typical documentary, Murray says.
“It’s more of a drama,” he explains.
Along with showcasing the LaFontaine’s magnificent architecture, the film tells a story of sacrifice and determination—from the time the grand hotel was built, to the time it fell into disuse, and was later rescued and restored by grassroots citizens.
"It's the story of J. Fred Bippus, sacrificing everything to build his dream, and it's the story of people joining together to save something they loved when it seemed beyond all reason to do so,” Murray says. “Those are the stories that grip you, move you."
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The Hotel LaFontaine was a popular stay for the rich and famous when it opened in 1926.
The Hotel LaFontaine was built by businessman James Fred Bippus, son of George J. Bippus, the primary promoter of the C. & E. Railroad, namesake of nearby Bippus township, and purportedly once the largest individual producer of crude oil in the United States.
Some accounts say the hotel was a tribute to the younger Bippus' father, and as such, no expense was spared.
"Of course, it was the beauty that first attracted me,” Murray says. “I honestly felt as if I had just stepped back in time the moment I stepped through the door.”
Opened in 1926, Hotel LaFontaine operated until 1974. A sub-floor was then installed over the pool––which remains intact––allowing boxing matches to be held there.
But over the years, the building began to fall into disrepair until it was nearly demolished in the early 80s.
In 1982, a citizen-led group called the LaFontaine Center, Inc., formed to rescue the hotel and reconfigure it into 65 apartments through a loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Along with federal dollars, private donations helped restore the ground-floor grand lobby and the ballroom, which is now rented to the public for social functions. 
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A poster for Murray's documentary set to air on PBS.
Four years after it was saved, the LaFontaine was reopened to residents and granted historic landmark status.
The power of the space is not lost on its current manager Rose Meldrum, who says that when you walk in, you still get that “wow” factor, which once attracted Hollywood elites.
“It's quite a beautiful building, and we're very fortunate it wasn't torn down,” Meldrum says. “Everything has been repurposed, but done so as close to original as possible."
While the film showcases the LaFontaine, it also profiles the city of Huntington, as a whole. Murray says his team spent many hours visiting the city and researching its history.
"One thing that impressed us was the warmth with which we were greeted,” he says. “It's an absolutely charming town, and several businesses were gracious enough to provide services while we were on our shoot."
In addition to the LaFontaine Center, Huntington has other historic architecture, including the United Brethren/Odd Fellows block and two Purviance mansions––Bippus' mother was the former Sarah Purviance.
Meldrum hopes the film helps people in northeast Indiana and beyond see Huntington’s history and future in a new light.
"It showcases some of the other reasons people come to our community, and I think people will start to think of Huntington in a different way,” she says.
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Auburn-based filmmaker Matthew Wayne Murray tells the story of the Hotel LaFontaine.
For Murray, this film is just the beginning.
He’s already working on more projects, including a full-length feature about his own family, and he's hoping to eventually produce a series of 10 historic films, including another documentary about the Bippus family.
“Their family brought electricity to Indiana; they helped start Standard Oil Company with Rockefeller,” he says. “It’s just an incredible story.”
Watch the film
"Matthew Wayne Murray Presents––The Hotel LaFontaine: A Look Back" will air on PBS this spring. While the date is still to be announced, DVDs are now available for purchase at matthewwaynemurraypresents.com, where you can also access a free preview.