The century-old downtown institution was the site of his parents’ — Jim and Phyllis — first date all those years ago.

“My mom worked at a little diner in downtown Fort Dodge — Constantine’s,” O’Brien said. “And Dad would go in and see her there.”

The Laramar was going to be hosting the Fort Dodge Policeman’s Ball around that time, he said.

“A policeman happened to come into the diner and saw my mom and dad and said, ‘Jim, you need to take Phyllis on a date. Take her to the policeman’s ball,'” O’Brien said. “So that was their first date, and they got married and were married for 50-plus years before Dad passed away.”

O’Brien said that for decades, Jim would carry the ticket from that night in his billfold.

Although O’Brien’s connection to the Laramar begins long before he was born, that’s not what led to him becoming an owner of what has now become a dilapidated, vacant building, and planning to give it new life.

O’Brien, along with his son Brady and colleague Joe Tuel, formed the Laramar Acquisition Company LLC and purchased the building from Anhelo Inc. for $45,000 in June. Anhelo Inc. had owned the building since 2015.

Chris O’Brien and Tuel, who owns Webster Glass LLC, have been working on several of the downtown facade face-life projects. Looking at the nearby Laramar, 710 First Ave. N., and seeing its potential is what sparked their interest in the building.

“It’s more about revitalizing that building and bringing it back to life,” O’Brien said.

“We see value in it,” Tuel said.

The Laramar was built in 1904 as the Fort Dodge Armory and home to the regimental band of Company G, 56th Infantry. Larry and Margaret Greer would eventually buy the building in 1938 and rename it the Laramar — a portmanteau of the couples’ first names.

Throughout the decades, the building’s name would change — first to the Plamor, then to the Twilight Ballroom — before becoming the Laramar again.

The ballroom welcomed many entertainment acts throughout the years with artists like Johnny Cash, Duke Ellington, Guy Lombardo and Louis Armstrong gracing the stage. In its later years, it would host comedy shows and mixed-martial arts fights.

The Laramar Ballroom is possibly best known as one of the last stages that held 1950s musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson before the three were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake.

Holly, Valens and Richardson had been on their Winter Dance Party tour when they played for a crowd of 1,000 at the Laramar on Jan. 30, 1959. Just a few days later on Feb. 3, after playing at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, the group’s plane crashed into a field shortly after takeoff.

“The history is just incredible,” O’Brien said. “Especially growing up in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, when people every Friday and Saturday night went to see some kind of band or concert,” O’Brien said. “The local musicians, the talent around this area was phenomenal.”

Tuel, a Lehigh native, went to UFC fights and wedding receptions held at the Laramar several years ago. O’Brien, who grew up in Fort Dodge, remembers seeing comedy shows and musical acts there.

O’Brien and Tuel plan to reopen the revitalized Laramar as an event center for entertainment and weddings, but also find other uses for the building, like providing meeting spaces for businesses and organizations.

“Anything we can do to keep it occupied and use it would be great,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien said the rehabilitation of the Laramar building will be “a win for the community,” because when the ballroom hosts concerts, shows and other events, it will bring people to the restaurants and hotels and other businesses in town.

Right now, O’Brien and Tuel are focused on cleaning out the junk and debris that has accumulated in the building in recent years. There’s water damage in the basement that needs to be addressed, as well as some 1970s-era carpet.

The two plan to work on rehabilitating the inside of the building over the winter and hope to have the Laramar open by next fall.

Laramar Acquisition Company may have actually saved the historic building. O’Brien said he believes the previous owner would have elected to demolish the building if it didn’t sell. It had been on the market since at least January 2019.

O’Brien said they’ve received a lot of support from the city of Fort Dodge, especially help with applying for a Community Catalyst grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

“That is huge in helping us to fund the rehabilitation,” he said.

Tuel said they’re also pursuing other funding to help with the project.

“There’s no other building in town like the Laramar,” Tuel said.