The famous Franco Cozzo furniture building in Melbourne’s inner west suburb of Footscray will officially be converted into a Moon Dog brewery after much umm-ing and ahh-ing from the local council over the proposal.
After an application was submitted last year, the plan to turn the site into a massive hospo venue where 900 yahoos could simultaneously let off steam was rejected by the Maribyrnong City Council in June.
Per The Age, the main reasons cited were a lack of parking, noise pollution and a likely increase in traffic congestion in an already bottle-necked area.
Moon Dog then had two months to file an appeal, which it did.
The appeal was successful with the council announcing the news on its Facebook page on Saturday morning.
The announcement noted “a change to the previously proposed hours of operation – from 11am to 11pm Sunday to Thursday – and 1am Friday and Saturday, with a gradual reduction in occupancy after 10pm”.
The local community was quick to join the conversation with many posting cheeky quips.
“Council made a sensible decision. Am stunned,” wrote one.
“Brilliant news! !!! And only 200 meters to stumble home,” penned another.
“It’s a good decision that came out of negotiation between Council and the operators to make sure the very real traffic issues were dealt with this is not unusual I’m glad a solution has been found,” added a third, less comedically gifted citizen.
Josh Uljans, the co-founder of Moon Dog said he and his business were “very happy” with the outcome.
“[They are] minor changes in the scheme of things, really just addressing the specific concerns which were primarily around the safety of intersection which sits next to the building.
The brewer has pledged to keep the iconic Franco Cozzo sign in tact for history’s sake and establish an area within the precinct that was dedicated to the famous furniture salesman.
