Moon Dog’s Footscray brewpub ready to pour first beers after launch debacle

After two false starts and a dispute with the council over a fire hydrant, craft brewery Moon Dog is hoping the third attempted opening’s a charm for its much-anticipated Footscray brewpub on the former Franco Cozzo site.

At 11.30am on Friday, April 26, just over a week since the venue had to turn partygoers away from its launch party, Moon Dog Wild West will pour the first beers at its western-themed beer hall in the heart of Footscray.

“It was a huge sigh of relief when I got that email [with our occupancy permit] this morning,” says co-founder Karl van Buuren.

The eleventh-hour cancellation of last week’s launch, which occurred 10 minutes before its start time, boiled down to the placement of a fire hydrant on a footpath.

“Essentially, we misinterpreted something and we placed a fire hydrant incorrectly, and it was only called out to us right at the last moment,” says van Buuren.

Moon Dog has worked with its building surveyor, fire engineers and Maribyrnong City Council throughout the past week to relocate the hydrant, which is now recessed into a wall, rather than sitting on a footpath.

He says Moon Dog “took the risk” of organising their grand opening before their occupancy certificate was issued.

“I guess that was the most frustrating part: that right up until the last minute, we thought we had done everything right.”

The initial launch party, planned for Thursday, April 11, was affected by a separate building code issue related to the fire hydrant, van Buuren says.

The Melbourne brewer’s third venue was hotly anticipated even before the delays. Occupying the showroom of legendary Melbourne furniture salesman, Franco Cozzo, the mega-venue for 800 patrons fought hard to receive planning approval after concerns from Maribyrnong City Council over amenity and noise.

In response, van Buuren and his partners Josh and Jake Uljans revised patron numbers, trading hours and safety around footpaths and roads.

Moon Dog met with Maribyrnong City Council on Tuesday to resolve the hydrant issue.

“We have a really great relationship with them. We’re able to speak frankly, they’re able to speak frankly with us, and it worked out really well,” says van Buuren.

Last week, though, that collaborative relationship appeared at risk as Moon Dog and the council traded rebukes over who was to blame for the brewery’s delayed opening. Maribyrnong City Council chief executive Celia Haddock denied that the council was responsible for issuing the occupancy certificate.

“Our understanding is that earlier this week, Moon Dog’s private building surveyor, who is responsible for issuing the relevant building permits and certificate of occupancy required for the venue to trade, had flagged issues with the fire hydrant and booster cabinet, as the works had not been carried out in accordance with the relevant Building Regulations 2018,” Haddock told this masthead last week.

In a response last week, van Buuren said: “On Tuesday, an inspection of our fire system uncovered an issue in the installation process, which meant that a few changes needed to be made to achieve certification.

“These changes were then carried out the next day and the system was then certified. Council then made us aware that the location of the fire hydrant, which was positioned as per our approved plans, was not allowed to be on the footpath and would need to be relocated inside the building.”

The relocated hydrant now “ticks all the boxes, even the boxes we didn’t know,” says van Buuren.

“Council are happy, we’re happy, Footscray’s happy and we’re going to be throwing open our doors.”

In response, Maribyrnong City Council CEO Celia Haddock said: “Council appreciates Moon Dog’s recognition ‘they misinterpreted regulations’.

We acknowledged their apology for wrongly blaming Council for the issue in a meeting they invited us to on Tuesday 23 April. At this meeting, they also advised Council they had been able to resolve safety issues with their private building surveyor, enabling the occupancy certificate to be issued.

“We wish them all the best for their opening.”

Moon Dog Wild West features a country and western theme over three levels, with a mechanical bucking bull on the ground floor, saloon-inspired interiors, and a rooftop bar with cacti.

Moon Dog Wild West opens Friday, April 26 at 11.30am and is then open Mon-Tue 3pm-11pm, Wed-Thu 11.30am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11.30am-1am, Sun 11.30am-11pm.

54 Hopkins Street, Footscray, moondog.com.au/wild-west