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.

“You can feel the building; it feels happier now,” Hill said. “We’re happy to keep the bones, but bring new life into the space.”

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.

“It’s a 100-plus-year-old building, and it needed some love poured into it,” Schubert said. “And when you start with renovations, you think better to do it all now than to have to come back later.”

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.

“The neighborhood has been so welcoming, and people are excited to see what we’re going to do,” Hill said. “And 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.”

An official opening date is still up in the air. Hill regrets putting up “Reopening this Summer” 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.

“That 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,” 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.

“We know this is such a part of this neighborhood, and of Eugene, and everyone was so sad to see it go,” Schubert said. “It would have been such a loss for the community if it had entirely gone away.”

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

“I think many of us feel more and more this urge to reconnect as humans, and be done with the old screen time,” Hill said. “Sam 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.”

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

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The Dallas Police Department will get more space, but not the new station that city officials hoped for; that plan fizzled when voters rejected a multimillion-dollar bond in May 2025.

On April 6, the city council approved plans to reduce monthly stormwater charges by $5 and add a new $5 facility and equipment fee that will pay for the renovation of the city-owned ex-Polk County Itemizer-Observer building into a new city hall.

That means Dallas residents won’t pay more than they already are to fund the work.

The new fee structure will allow the police department to take over the current 22,000-square-foot city hall. That 90-year-old building will eventually be remodeled.

The $2.5 million that will be raised over 10 years from the fee is significantly less than the proposed bond’s $17.2 million that failed to gain voters’ approval. But it will help the city meet its goal of giving the police department more space in an updated building.

“The net effect on the bill payer would be zero dollars,” Dallas City Manager Brian Latta told the city council. “Because voters said ‘no,’ it required everybody to look and say, what’s next?’ There are immediate positive impacts for the police department.”

City Councilor Carlos Barrientos expressed concern that the city would remodel city hall before addressing the problems with the police station. The police department currently operates out of about 4,000 square feet, has no private interview room for victims, and has run out of storage space for evidence (it sits in stacks on the floor).

“The reason we got here in the first place is we wanted to do something to support our police officers by giving them a new police station with more room,” said Barrientos, who voted for the fee. “To me, it seems that the priority here is being put on a new city hall.”

Latta said the new fee will raise enough money for conceptual work to transform the current city hall into a police station and for security upgrades like lockable doors.

City Councilor Kim Fitzgerald said she supported the improvements but voted against the fee because it was not sent to voters.

She was the lone dissenting vote in the council’s 8-1 decision to enact the new fee.

“I know that we just reduced one fee, but to create a new fee, I have a little bit of a problem with that,” Fitzgerald said. “I think it’s a creative solution, but it’s still a fee. It’s still a tax.”

The approximately 12,000-square-foot Itemizer-Observer building is next to city hall on Court Street. The city purchased it for $660,000 in 2023.

Estimates from contractors for the work on the Itemizer-Observer building range between $1.2 million and $1.4 million.

When the renovation of that building is completed, 20 city employees will move into it. And there will be enough room to accommodate more.

The city will borrow about $2 million from its stormwater fund for work on the Itemizer-Observer building. It will repay that money with interest, meaning that fund will receive about $400,000 more than it already has.

“It does take some of those six- to 20-year projects and pushes them out a little bit longer,” Latta said.

The new city hall could be ready as soon as November, Latta said.

The city does not have either a timeline for converting the current city hall into a police station or a plan to secure funding for the project.

Latta said the city hopes to receive a grant from Business Oregon for seismic rehabilitation of the aged city hall. That state agency gives grants for up to $3 million for such work.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in The Statesman Journal and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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WASHINGTON — Construction workers on Monday started tearing down part of the White House’s East Wing, the traditional base of operations for the first lady, to build President Donald Trump’s $250 million ballroom despite lacking approval from the federal agency that oversees such projects.

Dramatic photos of the demolition work showed construction equipment tearing into the East Wing façade and windows. Some reporters watched the activity from a park near the Treasury Department, which is next to the East Wing.

Trump announced the start of construction in a social media post and referenced the work while hosting 2025 college baseball champs Louisiana State University and LSU-Shreveport in the East Room. He noted the work was happening “right behind us.”

“We have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically,” he said. “It just started today.”

The Trump administration has moved ahead with the massive project despite not yet receiving sign-off from the National Capital Planning Commission, which approves construction work and major renovations to government buildings in the Washington area.

Its chairman, Will Scharf, who is also the White House staff secretary and one of Trump’s top aides, said at the commission’s September meeting that the agency does not have jurisdiction over demolition or site preparation work for buildings on federal property.

“What we deal with is essentially construction — vertical build,” Scharf said last month.

It was unclear whether White House staff had submitted the ballroom plans for the agency’s review and approval. White House staff did not respond to a request for comment and the commission’s offices are closed because of the government shutdown.

The Republican president had said in July when the project was announced that the ballroom would not interfere with the mansion itself.

“It’ll be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of,” he said of the White House.

The East Wing houses several offices, including those of the first lady. It was built in 1902 and then renovated over the years; a second story was added in 1942, according to White House staff.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the affected East Wing offices will be temporarily relocated during construction and that building wing will be modernized and renovated.

Trump insists that presidents have desired such a ballroom for 150 years and that he’s adding the massive 90,000-square-foot, glass-walled space because the East Room, which is the White House’s largest room with an approximately 200-person capacity, is too small. He also has said he does not like the idea of hosting kings, queens, presidents and prime ministers in pavilions on the South Lawn.

Trump, in the social media announcement, stated that the project would be completed “with zero cost to the American Taxpayer! The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.”

The ballroom will be the biggest structural change to the Executive Mansion since the addition in 1948 of the Truman Balcony overlooking the South Lawn, even dwarfing the residence itself.

At a dinner Trump hosted last week for some of the wealthy business executives who are donating money to cover some of the $250 million cost, Trump said the project had grown in size and now will accommodate 999 people. In July, the announcement indicated capacity would be 650 seated people.

White House staff said they will disclose information on who has contributed money to build the ballroom but have yet to do so.

Trump also said at last week’s event that the head of Carrier Global Corp., a leading manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, had offered to donate the air conditioning system for the ballroom.

Carrier confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that it had done so. A cost estimate was not immediately available.

“Carrier is honored to provide the new iconic ballroom at the White House with a world-class, energy-efficient HVAC system, bringing comfort to distinguished guests and dignitaries in this historic setting for years to come,” the company stated via email.

The clearing of trees on the south grounds and other site work for the construction started in September. Plans call for the ballroom to be ready before Trump’s term ends in January 2029.

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The Oregon State University Board of Trustees on Friday approved two construction projects along with several improvements to the Corvallis campus and the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.

The largest project is a $71 million renovation of Withycombe Hall in Corvallis. The building will gain meeting space for students, lab improvements, dairy processing facility and wine processing facility expansions, and the addition of retail space to sell Beaver Classic cheese, ice cream and meat.

A $13 million project was greenlit to improve the Hatfield Marine Science Center dock to accommodate a new research vessel – the RV Taani – that is due to arrive in Newport next year. The portion of the original dock that was built in the 1960s will be replaced and a new support system will be installed to accommodate cranes, fueling trucks and large forklifts. The whole dock will also be widened, and utilities will be replaced.

Also, a $5 million budget increase was approved for Washington Way improvements. The project includes redeveloping several intersections and addressing pedestrian, bicycle, road, and railroad safety. Its expected total cost is now $29 million.

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PROJECT: AFC Urgent Care Medical Facility

LOCATION: 1071 S.E. Tualatin Valley Highway, Hillsboro

START DATE: May 2022

COMPLETION DATE: August 2022

COST: $995,000

OWNER: Guru Sankar

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Joseph Hughes Construction

ARCHITECT: SSOE Group

ENGINEER: DCI Engineers

OTHER ASSOCIATES/CONSULTANTS: PacWest Drywall & Painting, Sun Glow Heating & Cooling, DP Plumbing

PROJECT SIGNIFICANCE: A 4,800-square-foot former restaurant was transformed into an eight-room medical facility. Among the spaces are an X-ray room, pre-employment testing/screening rooms, and a training room. ADA parking lot upgrades also were performed.

The project included many challenges, including the previous tenant’s deferred roofing repairs, which resulted in the need to replace trusses, decking and rotted framing. A compressed construction schedule required pre-ordering all casework, doors and built-in furniture before the job began. This change required detailed layout and adjustment, as typically these items are ordered and manufactured after framing is completed.

In addition, to accommodate the opening date and the material delay of the project’s specified air handling unit, two smaller units were installed that combined have the same/greater air handling capabilities. They now work in unison and are ducted together to provide the same output of the original delayed unit.

AFC Urgent Care has been a client of Joseph Hughes Construction since 2011. JHC originally built four clinics under the Doctor’s Express brand in Lake Oswego, Northwest Portland, Southeast Portland, and Beaverton. In 2016, Doctor’s Express was purchased and rebranded AFC Urgent Care, and JHC went on to build clinics in Oregon City, Beaverton, Tigard, and now Hillsboro. JHC will start building another clinic in the Beaverton/Cedar Mill area in around 60 days.

“Building Blocks” spotlights noteworthy projects either under construction or approaching the start of construction. To submit a project for consideration, please visit: djcoregon.com/building-blocks.

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A renovation is in progress on the Health Technology Building at Portland Community College‘s Sylvania Campus in Southwest Portland. The 100,000-square-foot renovation is the largest project from PCC’s 2017 bond. The HT Building was built in the late 1960s.

Gary Sutton, senior project manager for the Office of Planning & Capital Construction, stated in a press release that there has been visible progress on the building in the past few months. The contractor has completed all of the demolition, seismic and structural work, including the majority of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing rough-in. The new air handler was installed on the roof late last month.

In addition, the exterior glazing is nearly complete around the building perimeter with the new skylight being installed and roofing scheduled to be finished later next month.

Sutton said the building is essentially “dried in,” with interior finishes beginning soon. That work includes the wall framing, sheetrock and ceiling systems. The scope of the job will continue through the end of the year, with the contractor beginning on the first floor and working their way up to the third floor.

The renovation project has included a build-out of many programs, including architecture, interior design, nursing, medical imaging and radiography, physical education and exercise science.

Until 2021, the biology labs used to be nested in the HT building but have moved to renovated space in Sylvania’s Science Technology (ST) Building.

PCC has already replaced the older HT medical imaging lab with a functional space, with a new open layout in the centralized suite.

In addition to ST, the Automotive Metals Building and its systems received several deferred maintenance improvements to the mechanical and exhaust systems, as well as replacement of the electrical gear and the remodeling of some existing classrooms to accommodate physical education classes during the HT renovation. Once HT is completed, the space will be fitted out as a large new classroom for the engineering department.

As part of all of this work, the campus will receive site improvements to enhance campus safety, accessibility, transit and connectivity. Plus, campus sustainability will be improved with increased landscaping and stormwater retention, and additional trees will extend the tree canopy, which can help cool temperatures in parking areas.

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Gresham-Barlow School District voters approved a $291 million capital bond measure in 2016, and it has launched the district on a building spree that currently includes the overhaul of both Gresham and Sam Barlow high schools, as well as the construction of two brand new elementary schools and the renovation or expansion of several more elementary and middle schools.

Currently, crews from Fortis Construction and its subcontractors are swarming over the Gresham High School job site, where a 169,000 square foot expansion that includes a brand new auditorium and up to 63 new classroom spaces is being constructed. Whitaker Ellis concrete workers are pouring concrete footings for the south wing of the expansion containing the new auditorium, while other subcontractors are prepping for the upcoming installation of the steel support columns that will form the backbone of the expanded school.

The new auditorium at the corner of Southeast Division Street and Main Avenue will form the centerpiece of the school once completed. The main entrance, meanwhile, will be shifted to the south side of the campus off Division Street. This is a big change from the current configuration, which has featured the main entrance along Main Avenue since the school opened 112 years ago.

While work is steadily progressing both inside and outside of the existing buildings, Fortis crews are planning to install a tower crane onsite in about three weeks. This should have the effect of speeding up construction, said Fortis Superintendent Dave Salisbury, mainly because overhead power lines ringing the school campus have made it more awkward for truck-mounted boom cranes to operate.

In addition to Fortis Construction, BLRB Architects is also part of the project team and designed the school expansion.

Check out our photo gallery of the job site taken Friday morning.

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A multistory Northwest Portland structure that will soon serve as the home of financial services firm Sloy, Dahl & Holst Inc. was first a home for a prominent doctor in the late 19th century. DiLoreto Architecture and Joseph Hughes Construction (JHC) are taking on the modernization project, with sensitivity for the past.

“We’re trying to be historically accurate while being mindful of current needs,” architect Tracy Orvis said.

Workers have already discovered in the building’s old walls some unique items, including 1920s-era newspapers with ads for items such as zeppelins and war bonds. Wooden balls were found wedged in between pipes to help them keep their slope. Pipes used to power gas lanterns and coal chutes used to feed the original furnace turned up as well.

“There is a pocket door that led to the parlor, and the hardware is date-stamped 1891,” Clark Zeller, project manager for JHC, said. “We are still going to use that piece of hardware. That is kind of cool.”

The house, at 829 N.W. 19th Ave., was designed by Whidden & Lewis, an architecture firm that operated in Portland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But over the course of many decades, the house was “remodeled beyond recognition,” Richard Marlitt wrote in his book “Matters of Proportion,” which detailed the residential work of Whidden & Lewis.

The project team found the building still had stained glass windows above the landing at the top of an ornate staircase. However, many other elements were simply covered.

“The building was treated very poorly,” said Celeste Lucas, a Sloy, Dahl & Holst Inc. account executive who has been extensively involved in the renovation project.

The 7,500-square-foot building was completed in 1892 as a personal residence for Dr. George Good. It became a school in the 1930s and then was used for offices in the 1950s. Through the building’s 125 years, each renovation removed some of the original architectural elements.

“They covered hardwood floor with flat laminate,” Orvis said. “They covered up the doors and filled in the panels.”

An extension was added to the front of the house in the 1950s, and four of the home’s five ornate fireplaces were stripped of their finishes and walled off.

The decisions to cover the flooring and fireplaces raised questions.

“You ask, at what point did they think this wasn’t beautiful?” Lucas said.

The renovation team has already managed to bring the building’s hardwood floors back to life. Existing fireplaces are now being restored. The plan is to finish renovating the first two floors by October. Basement, third floor and exterior renovations are planned for a later time.

“Luckily, a lot of the things we found were original,” Orvis said. “The original doors were still in there. They are in great shape. The coverings, as hideous as they were, were a great protector.”

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Renovation projects are often full of surprises. The full renovation of Hotel Eastlund, a 4-star, 168-room boutique hotel in the heart of the Portland’s Lloyd District, was no exception.

Originally built in the 1960s, the hotel’s floors and load-bearing walls were laced with tensioning cables. Deconstruction was painfully slow at times as ground-penetrating radar and x-ray machines were on-site through most of the project to insure those cables were not damaged and that structural integrity of the building was maintained.

What had originally been planned as a selective demolition turned into a full gutting of the building’s interior. All plumbing and electrical features were replaced and new low-voltage communication lines were installed.

Electric controls were consolidated into a 22-foot vault that originally was intended to be placed outside. However, restrictions due to the nearby light-rail tracks and other problems caused it to be engineered to go underground, pushed back into the building. Seismic upgrades were made in the basement and the hotel’s restaurant and cafe were moved to the rooftop.

The $22 million project was further pressured by a very tight time line. Grand Ventures Hotel, the owner, wanted the project finished in time for the beginning of the busy season that starts with Portland’s Rose parade in late spring. From the start of demolition, Deacon Corp. often had crews working double shifts and extra attention paid to tracking material orders to bring them in on time.  The result was a completion date of May 2015, just nine months from start to finish.

Project Team + Stats

Location: Portland, Oregon

Cost: $22 million

Start date: September 2014

Completion date: May 2015

Owner/developer: Grand Ventures Hotel LLC

Architect: Holst Architecture

Engineer: MKE Consulting Engineers

General contractor: Deacon Corp.

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Cedar Sinai Park broke ground last week on the Harold Schnitzer Health and Rehabilitation Care Center, a $33 million construction project in Portland.

Designed by LRS Architects with R&H Construction as general contractor, the project will include the renovation of the Robison Jewish Health Center to transform it into a 44-bed post-acute rehabilitation center. In addition, two new buildings will include four homes with 12 beds each, for a total of 48 beds.

The work on the Southwest Boundary Street campus will be done in phases, with new construction coming first, said Kraig O’Connor, project manager for R&H.

“We are adding two new buildings, a three-story and a single-story, and that will be the first phase,” he said.

Cedar Sinai Parkprovides residential and community-based care to elders and adults with special needs. Current services included independent and assisted living at the Rose Schnitzer Manor, nursing home care at Robison Jewish Health Center, daily respite care through Adult Day Services, affordable housing for the elderly and people with disabilities at four facilities, in-home care and affordable housing for developmentally disabled adults.

But the goal of the new buildings is to get away from an institutional feel, O’Connor said.

“We are trying to make it homey with higher-end finishes, fantastic lighting and upgraded floor and window coverings,” he said.

That “homey” feel is the result of Cedar Sinai following the guidelines of , a long-term care model that’s gaining national attention. Green House homes go beyond simply providing medical care to the elderly, but offer “an environment and support system that enables each person to regain their individuality and to live in a real home,” according to the Green House Project website.

That means large bedrooms, communal kitchens and common areas that all residents to live more socially and yet individually than in a typical home for the elderly, said David Fuks, executive director of Cedar Sinai Park.

“We want to be responsive to people in the way they want to receive care and we are very committed to person-centered care,” he said. “The Green House model will allow us to change the culture not only throughout our organization, but (it) can be exemplary to others in the state as they seek to have 21st-century model care.”

Fuks said Cedar Sinai Park has been saving for the project for years, but got a big boost with a $5 million gift from Arlene and the late Harold Schnitzer through the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation. Other corporate interests contributed another $3 million. Fuks also is working with Cain Brothers, an investment bankingfirm that focuses exclusively on the medical services industry, to possibly obtain for both bridge and long-term financing.

“Our fundraising goal for the total project is $19.35 million and we’ve already raised over $18 million for the entire project,” Fuks said.

Fuks added that he is working with a large foundation on the East Coast that may make up the difference.

After the new buildings are complete, the 53,000-square-foot Robison building will be taken down to its studs, said O’Connor.

“Once those are complete, we will move personnel and residents so we can renovate the existing building.”

Construction of the entire project will take about two years, O’Connor said, with work to begin in about a month.

Michael Roberts is leading the team for LRS Architects. O’Connor said R&H is carrying contracts for design and construction of mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. American Heating will handle HVAC work, plumbing will be by Tapani Plumbing Inc., electrical work will be by EC Company and Crown Fire Systems will handle fire suppression systems.

Landscaping and other contracts have not been awarded yet, O’Connor said.

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