Lafayette Building

Alfonso "Fonnie" Mack and historic preservationists hope they can somehow raise the money or help to at least temporarily cover the roof of a building at 1415 W. Washington St. in South Bend before winter hits.

Joe Molnar, South Bend's deputy community investment director, says demolishing the historic Lafayette Building after a June 8 fire would be heartbreaking but maybe necessary if an interested developer doesn't step forward soon.

Three months after the South Bend Fire Department let the Indiana state fire marshal take over its Lafayette Building fire investigation, there's been no information released about a cause or point of origin.

South Bend Fire Department Assistant Chief Derrick Erquhart says it could be days, weeks or months before investigators determine what caused a fire at the historic Lafayette Building Monday. A city official says the building had been secured.

A developer tried to renovate the Lafayette Building in 2023 and 2024 but ultimately failed to secure financing, partly because of a fire in the 1930s in the basement.

Lafayette OpCo LLC has decided to back out of its purchase agreement for the Lafayette Building in downtown South Bend.

The city has agreed to give the developer another extension to close on the 1901 building and start converting it to apartments and ground-floor retail

The developer must create at least 30 apartments with ground-floor retail space and cannot alter the building's scenic atrium