Named for financier and philanthropist Demas Deming, the hotel occupies the site of the old Congregational Church. The firm Holabird and Roche of Chicago designed the building in the “Second Empire” style, with ornate cornices and plasterwork inspired by French architecture. Construction was by the Sheldon-Breck Construction Co. of St. Louis at a cost of $400,000. F.P.W. Young was the supervisor.
Designed as a fireproof hotel, the eight-story structure is an all-masonry building with poured concrete floors and ceilings. The Terre Haute Coal and Lime Co. furnished 4,450 cubic yards of gravel and sand, as well as 7,550 barrels of Marquette Portland cement for the concrete work on the building and sidewalks. Also used were 648,000 various kinds of bricks and 300 tons of twisted steel. It should be noted that during construction, no accident of any consequence occurred.
For the interior, the Connersville Furniture Co. manufactured all the bedroom furniture. Their local representatives, the A.Z. Foster Co., provided everything else except for the linens and kitchen equipment. The Adamson & Anderson Co. was contracted for all the glasswork in the hotel, using 10,000 pieces. When completed, the hotel had 250 rooms and 200 baths. The Mandel Studio of Chicago provided a large painting of Indians with Fort Harrison in the background for the lobby. This painting was removed during renovation and later returned.
The Deming Hotel opened officially for business on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 1914, with a Charity Ball to benefit The Boys Club. “Billie” Cochran was the first manager, with Tom Nelson as his first lieutenant manager. John O. Holmes, a traveling representative for Eli Lilly and Co., was the first name on the guest register. With dinner at 7 and dancing at 10, a good time was had by all. The first noted actor/dancer to stay at the hotel was Joseph Santley, appearing in Phillip Bartholomew’s musical comedy “When Dreams Come True,” at the Grand Opera House on Thursday, Oct. 22, 1914.
On Dec. 28, 1962 the property was sold to Hulman and Co. In 1963, the property changed hands again when it was purchased by Indiana State University for use as a men’s dormitory and later as a conference center.
On Sept. 21, 1978, Congressman John Myers and Mayor William Brighton announced completion of financial arrangements for the $4.15 million “Deming Project.” A month later, Bethesda Corp. and the Terre Haute Housing Authority began rehabilitation of the hotel into 109 apartments for low-income elderly and the handicapped, with completion set for December 1979.
In February 2014, it was announced that Core Redevelopment had acquired the 100 year old building. The Deming will undergo a six million dollar renovation with a move-in day of August 2015!
