Happy Friday, Lafayette.

There is plenty to do this Saturday in town, so get out there😎

We had our third Dinner Club on Wednesday and it was so much fun! I met up with everyone after dinner at The Cellar Wine Bistro and we closed the place down. Thank you to everyone who came out and made it a great time. Here’s a recap post about it.

Here’s what’s in Friday’s edition:

Moving with cardboard boxes can be a pain. They collapse halfway up the stairs, tear at the corners, and then sit in your garage for six months after you've unpacked.

Lafayette Moving Totes rents sturdy, stackable plastic totes that they deliver to your door and pick up after you’ve moved. No tape, no late-night box runs to Lowes, no cardboard graveyard in the garage.

For Purdue students, Lafayette Moving Totes will drop totes at your apartment or dorm before move-out and haul them away once you're settled somewhere new. Realtors looking for a closing gift can hand their clients a tote rental that makes move-in dramatically less painful. And for locals moving across town, it means one trip to pack, one trip to unpack, and nothing left over.

Check them out

Planting season is here, and the Tippecanoe County Master Gardeners have been busy. Their annual Garden Expo lands Saturday, April 25th from 9 am to 3 pm at the West Pavilion at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds.

Expect a ton of plants, a lineup of vendors, raffle baskets, and the Garden Shed stocked with goods the Master Gardeners have been gathering all year. New this year: Rollin in Dough Pizza Truck will be on site, so you can grab a slice while you shop.

Admission is $2 at the door. Anyone under 18 gets in free.

Bring your wagons and some cash.

Moses Fowler arrived in Lafayette in 1839 with John Purdue and $700 in borrowed capital. They had a dry goods partnership and it lasted five years before the two amicably split in 1844. Fowler went in alone on wholesale groceries, steamships on the Wabash, cattle, and eventually both railroads and banking.

By 1851 he was ready to build a house worthy of the fortune he was still accumulating. Construction ran from May 1851 to September 1852 at 10th and South. That plan came from the April 1851 issue of Andrew Jackson Downing's Horticulturist which was a Gothic Revival design called "Freestone Cottage." It was drawn up for a home then under construction in Middletown, Connecticut. Fowler's builders didn't copy it wholesale; they blended it with details from other pattern books, using local black walnut and white oak for the carved interior. Italian plasterers came in from New York via the Wabash & Erie Canal to execute the parlor ceilings. Quite the journey for this unique project.

Sources: SAH Archipedia, Indiana Landmarks, fowlerhouse.org, wabashanderiecanal.org, National Register of Historic Places

The Lafayette Redevelopment Commission offered an update on the city-owned Lafayette Theater at its April 23 meeting, confirming construction has not yet started on the roughly $20 million renovation.

Director Dennis Carson told commissioners the city has applied for a $5 million competitive grant from Lilly Endowment through the state's READY program to help fund the project. A decision on that application isn't expected until mid-July.

As a result, construction likely won't begin until late summer or fall. Carson said the city is still assembling financing for the renovation.

The update came during the director's report, prompted by a commissioner who said it was difficult to tell from the outside where things stood. "We haven't started construction or anything," Carson confirmed.

The commission's next regular meeting is in May, with special meetings scheduled April 30 and May 14 for other bid openings.

Purdue at USC

4/24 | 10 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Purdue at USC

4/25 | 5 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Purdue at USC

4/26 | 4 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Northwestern at Purdue

4/24 | 5 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Northwestern at Purdue

4/25 | 2 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Northwestern at Purdue

4/26 | 1 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Friday

75🌡️63 | ⛈️ | 50% | 💨10 mph

Saturday

71🌡️52 | 🌤️ | 0% | 💨7 mph

Sunday

72🌡️47 | 🌤️ | 0% | 💨7 mph

Monday

77🌡️54 | ⛈️ | 30% | 💨11 mph

Tuesday

68🌡️58 | 🌦️ | 40% | 💨11 mph

Native Plant Sale

Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds | April 24 11 am to 5 pm & April 25 9 am to 3 pm

Comedy Improv Show

Rat Pak Venue | 7:30 pm

Downtown Lafayette Live! Michael Kelsey and Friends

Riehle Plaza | 6 pm to 8 pm

KinderZoo Class: Jungle Journey (Get Tickets)

Columbian Park Zoo | 10 am to 11 am

Rally for Right Steps Pickleball Tournament

McCaw Park | 8 am to 5 pm

Garden Expo (Get Tickets)

Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds | 9 am to 3 pm

Wabash Sampling Blitz Spring 2026

Mar Len Park | 9 am to 5 pm

Children’s Book Sale

Tippecanoe County Public Library Wea Prairie Branch | 10:30 am to 2:30 pm

Crossroads Cars and Coffee 

6274 E 375 S Lafayette | 8 am to 12 pm

Menopause The Musical 2: Cruising Through “The Change”

Loeb Playhouse (Get Tickets) | 7:30 pm

Independent Bookstore Day

Second Flight Books | 10 am to 7 pm

Indiana Vintage Market Lafayette (Get Tickets)

Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds | 12 am to 5 pm

Valley Plaza Flea Market

Valley Plaza | 9 am to 3 pm

Painting with a Purpose (Get Tickets)

Wildcat Creek Winery | 2 pm to 5 pm

PMO Spring Show (Get Tickets)

Loeb Playhouse | 4 pm

Supper Club (Get Tickets)

A Pinch of Pepper | 3 pm to 5 pm

Sweet Megg (Jazz/Blues/Western Swing)

People’s Brewing Company & Taproom (Get Tickets) | 5 pm to 8 pm

Thank you for taking the time to read this far! If you have any suggestions for stories, restaurants to try, events going on, or cool things people are doing in the community, send them over!

Enjoy the weekend,

Blake | Publisher, Lafayette Lookout