Establishing historic landmark for 214 w jefferson blvd

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The architectural firm of Freyermuth and Maurer was formed in 1897 with the partnership of George Freyermuth and R. V. Maurer. Freyermuth was the son of a carpenter and building contractor of Alsatian origin. After being educated in the South Bend School system, he worked as a carpenter until becoming an architect in 1896. The partnership was responsible for the design of many of South .Bend's finest public buildings until its dissolution in 1934 upon Freyermuth's election as mayor of the city of South Bend. The office block which resulted from this association covered an area of 66 feet on Main Street and 165 feet on Jefferson Street and was four stories tall. In his History of St. Joseph County published. in 1907, Timothy Howard described the Jefferson Building as "the finest business block and office building in the City of South Bend ". Whitcomb & Keller. located their offices in this block. In 1916 the building was converted to use as a hotel which offered 125 rooms and ha& a lobby that boasted such conveniences as an in house barber shop. Most office tenants including Whitcomb & Keller relocated to the newly constructed Farmer's Associates Building, also known as the Phoenix Building, across the street at this time. By 1951 the current owners of the hotel spent $100,000.00 in renovations to bring the hotel up to modern standards. They then leased the hotel to James Murfree in October of 1959. Mr. Murfree owned hotels in Lafayette and Elkhart, Indiana and had hopes of bringing business back to the Jefferson hotel. His first move was to make W.R. Weatherford the hotels resident manager. Mr. Weatherford was experienced in hotel management through his past work with Lafayette hotels. These efforts were to no avail, in 1961 the hotel was closed. The structure remained virtually empty for the next 20 years, until the early 1980s when the main body of the hotel was demolished and replaced with a fast food restaurant, leaving only the building located.at 214 W. Jefferson standing. After the hotel's demolition the building at 214 W. Jefferson became owned by Milt's Restaurant. The restaurant occupied the first floor and left the upper three floors empty. Milt's restaurant was bought out by Barb's Restaurant in 1985. Barb's Restaurant eventually went under and was purchased by Steve Moerlein in' 1996. Mr. Moerlein is a lawyer who intends to restore the building to its original use-as office space. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION The.structure is.a four story commercial building designed in the Renaissance Revival style by Freyermuth and Maurer. The structure is rectangular in design, has a brick foundation and a tar and gravel roof. The walls are made of brick with brick recessed panels and spandrels located in the street facade with engaged pilasters supporting stone capitals. This general motif is reflected more eccentrically in the "Phoenix Building" directly across Jefferson Street. The upper portion of the facade includes a metal egg & dart architrave, a brick frieze and a sheet metal. cornice with modillions and dentils. The sheet metal cornice which once was continuous for the street facades of the Jefferson building returns around the corner at the alley but has been clipped at the front elevation short of the northeast corner.