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Since Sam Bond’s Garage in Eugene closed in late 2025, its windows have been covered with butcher paper and the community gathering spot has sat empty. Whiteaker neighborhood residents sorely felt the loss of the bar, which was a beloved live music venue for 30 years.

It was the kind of place where everyone was welcome, as long as they paid the cover and were nice to Buddy the Cat.

Behind the butcher paper, new owners Grace Schubert and Ian Hill are deep into a renovation. The mention of a remodel might raise some folks’ blood pressure, but Schubert and Hill say assuredly that they’re not turning Eugene’s darling dive into a new student housing complex.

They want to maintain the energy of the community’s favorite bar and ensure that it can remain a staple for generations to come.

Schubert and Hill want to keep the overall vibe of Sam Bond’s Garage the same, but they are engaged in upgrades. There will be a new kitchen setup and menu inspired by their family in Kentucky. Think bourbon, bluegrass music and barbecue.

The couple also is changing the physical space. They have reinsulated the walls to make sure the old building is free of pests. Now they’re refinishing the concrete floors. Next, they plan to build out the stage and lay new concrete in front of it.

Schubert and Hill are keeping the raised wood build-out at the front of the bar and adding to that vibe with new tables and a live-edge wood bar built out of the tree that was struck by lightning at the Lane County Fairgrounds. They’re even toying around with the idea of installing a fireplace.

Because Sam Bond’s Garage is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, there are limitations to what Schubert and Hill can do to the building. The ceiling must be left uncovered, and the hoist that was used to move engines around the building must remain. Fortunately, all guidelines jive with the couple’s plans for the refurbishment.

鈥淵ou can feel the building; it feels happier now,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淲e’re happy to keep the bones, but bring new life into the space.鈥�

Hill and Schubert knew they wanted to work with the building’s bones to create a community space that will be sustainable for generations to come. They took ownership at the end of December 2025 and began working on the space in January.

But owning a bar is different than seeing it when the lights are out. The couple hoped the bar would be open by now, but the historic building needed a lot of work.

鈥淚t’s a 100-plus-year-old building, and it needed some love poured into it,鈥� Schubert said. 鈥淎nd when you start with renovations, you think better to do it all now than to have to come back later.鈥�

Schubert and Hill plan to continue a lot of what the community came to love at Sam Bond’s Garage: artist showcases, live music, and weeknight events.

鈥淭he neighborhood has been so welcoming, and people are excited to see what we’re going to do,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淎nd there’s some nervousness that we don’t screw it up, and keep it core to the greatness that it’s been. We’re excited about living up to those expectations.鈥�

An official opening date is still up in the air. Hill regrets putting up 鈥淩eopening this Summer鈥� on the board outside. The aim is for September, but it’s a moving target.

Schubert and Hill moved to Eugene from Kentucky to attend the University of Oregon in 1997. After their truck overheated on the way to a Phish concert in California, Hill started researching what he could do differently to fuel it and stumbled onto the idea of biodiesel.

The couple started a business, SeQuential BioFuels, with a few of their friends. Their first station was where Ninkasi Brewing’s headquarters currently stands. The property used to be a parking lot for an oil company’s trucks.

SeQuential started as a small group of people who stopped in for Saturday morning fueling in Whiteaker and then built customer base large enough that they opened their own fueling station near Interstate 5.

Hill and Schubert sold the business in 2025 after 20 years.

鈥淭hat was kind of painful, because (the store) was part of the community, so once we transitioned out of that, we were looking for somewhere else to put our dollars,鈥� Hill said.

Sam Bond’s Garage was one of the first places Hill and Schubert remember visiting in Eugene. They have fond memories of watching friends perform on stage and seeing up-and-coming bands. Such memories, combined with the good energy of the neighborhood, solidified Schubert and Hill’s decision to take over the bar.

鈥淲e know this is such a part of this neighborhood, and of Eugene, and everyone was so sad to see it go,鈥� Schubert said. 鈥淚t would have been such a loss for the community if it had entirely gone away.鈥�

Hill and Schubert have two sons, one 19 and one 22, and want to provide something for them separate from screens.

鈥淚 think many of us feel more and more this urge to reconnect as humans, and be done with the old screen time,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淪am Bond’s was on the market for a while, and we have a connection to it, and coming to see music here, so we decided to do it.鈥�

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in The Register-Guard and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.