Outside the Box

Indiana’s automotive pioneers are world-renowned for their ingenuity and forward-thinking design, so it seems only appropriate that this inventive spirit lives on in MatchBOX Coworking Studio in Lafayette, a shared office space located in a former automotive dealership and service garage.

In 1936, local businessman Walter Gray constructed the then state-of-the-art building at 17 South Sixth Street in downtown Lafayette for his Dodge dealership, conveniently located next door to an existing Standard Oil Station. Walter Gray operated the dealership until his death in 1954, passing the business on to his son Bob Gray, who continued the franchise until 1968.

The Walter L. Gray, Inc. service department pictured in 1937. Courtesy of Tippecanoe County Historical Association, Lafayette, IN.

Today, the corner of South and Sixth streets looks much as it did in the 1930’s though the site’s original owners would hardly recognize some of the interior features. Founded as a nonprofit to foster entrepreneurship in Greater Lafayette, MatchBOX offers 24-hour office space, meeting rooms, and a makerspace for its members, as well as a coffee shop. The 11,000-square-foot garage building, owned by the Tippecanoe County Public Library thanks to a gift from Don and Lois Stein, was designed and renovated for its new use by MatchBOX before opening in 2014.

The corner of South and Sixth streets, Lafayette, c. 1937. Courtesy of Tippecanoe County Historical Association, Lafayette, IN

Next door, the Tippecanoe County Public Library adapted the corner’s 1928 Spanish Revival-style Standard Oil station, also donated by the Steins, into an innovative 24-hour library, using one of the former automotive bays to house an automated book vending machine.