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Fifty years ago, Pat Molak first visited Gruene. (pronounced like the color green).
His wife, Susie, explained that Molak had just graduated from college and was growing into a young businessman at the time. “He became a stockbroker, and he realized then that was absolutely not what he wanted to do,” Susie said.
It was 1975, and Gruene was a small place. Almost no businesses were open, and many were boarded up. Gruene Hall was there, but back then it was just the bar in front.
She said Molak wanted to buy a dance hall but he wasn’t looking for a high-end night spot. “He wasn't looking for a shiny penny at all. He was looking for something old that he could keep as was and run it,” she added.
His need for a bathroom led him to the perfect place. He strolled around one building when nature called, and he had a realization.
“He needed to go to the bathroom, so he went back there and looked and just said, ‘Oh my gosh, this is it. I found it. It's a dance hall.’ The back part, which is where everyone would dance, was full of storage.”
Molak bought the place, moved everything out of the dance hall, opened up a stage, and soon he had an old style Texas dance hall. Running a dance hall would also be a comfortable job — the dress code was perfect, and he kept it for the rest of his life.
“He usually wore to work t shirt and either shorts or a bathing suit. Didn't like to dress up and for sure, didn't dress up to go to Gruene,” she said. “He just had a very strong personality and drew people to him, and they all kind of dressed like he did.”
While Molak hoped Gruene Hall would become a popular place, he had no idea that it would, over the decades, become legendary to the musicians themselves. It was like Austin City Limits — if a musician wanted to be legit, they had to play at Gruene Hall.
“When he bought it, I don't think he had any idea that George Strait was going to walk in the door one day, or that Willie Nelson and Jerry Jeff would walk in the door one day,” Susie Molak added.
But they did. Countless music videos have been shot there. Parts of movies have been filmed there.
The rugged old dance hall hasn’t been in a rush to modernize. “We just started taking credit cards. It was cash only up until then,” she said. “His biggest line when he was working was ‘we're gently resisting change,’ and we're trying to follow that idea and carry that through for the next 50 years, but it's hard.”
They’ve been pretty successful at resisting change. The only air conditioning comes from swamp coolers and open windows. Susie Molak said that’s how they like it.
“It's never lost its feel. The floors still move when you're dancing or walking. The sound is the same. The decor has never changed. There's just there's something so quaint about it that musicians love to be there,” she said.
In late March 2024, Pat Molak died of a heart attack.
Susie had retired, but now she’s returned to work Gruene Hall. She recently had an idea for how to honor her husband.
At home her walls are adorned with dozens of pictures of Molak with all the big stars who have played Gruene Hall, and now she is turning a wall at Gruene Hall into what she calls the Legacy Wall, featuring those shots. They will dedicate the wall on a special day.
“It will be June 13. That is the day before he would be 77,” she said. The event will be free.
