From Patch: Octopus on College Hill a Stretch in New Directions for Mohair Pear Owners
Dave Deibler said he wants Octopus to be a neighborhood bar.
Dave Deibler wants Octopus, his new College Hill bar, to be more than just another watering hole. The venue, located at 2205 College St., is meant to be a neighborhood bar, Deibler said.
"I think this is the kind of project that has to happen on College Hill," Deibler said. "The student response has been great. And the variety of people in here has been awesome."
Deibler opened the bar with Barb Schilf. It is a move into new territory for the owners of clothing and accessories shop Mohair Pear, a long-time College Street mainstay.
Octopus boasts turntables and piles of records to provide the bar's background music and the atmosphere for an occasional dance party. Iowa beers from Reinbeck's Broad Street Brewing Co., along with other microbrews, are on tap.
Another local touch comes from the decor. The wood of the bar itself and many of the tables and chairs were salvaged from Valley Park Lanes bowling alley when it closed.
Deibler said they couldn't have done it alone. Old friends Todd Schwardz and Sean Haskins have stepped in. Schwardz oversaw the transformation of the space, which once housed Mohair Pear and more recently the restaurant Ippa, and installed the Valley Park Lane bar. Haskins is the bar manager.
Deibler and Schilf are also members of band House of Large Sizes, and Deibler said they learned a lot about the bar industry from their days playing at Stebs, which is now closed, and other venues.
"This is one of those dream-type projects," Deibler said. "It kind of wrote itself, in a sense."
Deibler admits any small business venture is risky and said bars are among the riskiest. That doesn't mean he and Schilf are already thinking of the future.
"If things goes OK, I'd like to do a very small restaurant," he said. "We'll see."