Salvos’ Footscray cafe shuttered after five months because it was ‘too popular’

At a busy intersection in downtown Footscray, the roller door is shut at the former Lighthouse Cafe. The place is stripped bare, with not a chair nor table left.

All that remains of The Salvation Army’s project is a mural on the wall (“Footscray” in electric and ocean blue, painted by the Western Bulldogs’ Cody Weightman), and a sign advising of its immediate closure – after just five months.

“The Lighthouse Cafe has outgrown this space and will be relocating to a larger premises,” reads the glossy A4. “More information to come – stay tuned. #ExcitingTimesAhead.”

There is no new location lined up for the project, which was billed as the “missing piece of the puzzle” for Footscray. It offered vulnerable people free meals, and connected people to local support services.

Just why the cafe had to close so soon is a matter of debate. When it opened, some locals said its location opposite Footscray Plaza would bring more disorder to the central shopping district.

The cafe’s sudden closure, they say, is proof that they were right.

Phil Gaby, operator of Nan’s Bakehouse (which supports rough sleepers and vulnerable people in Footscray), said it was “another failed experiment” for the suburb at taxpayers’ expense. The state government invested $950,000 into the cafe, which Footscray Labor MP Katie Hall said would keep it running a couple of years.

“I would never use that much funding for a busy cafe … That’s a staggering amount of money,” Gaby said.

“The real people that are actually doing stuff are the ones doing it out of their own pockets.”

But The Salvation Army argues the Lighthouse Cafe is a victim of its own success.

An average of 170 people – and at its peak, 215 people – had visited the Lighthouse Cafe daily, well above the 60-odd people the service had been expecting, Salvation Army leader Brendan Nottle said.

Concern about people crowding the small space had forced the cafe to close, Nottle said. Unlike its predecessor, Magpie Nest Cafe, on Bourke Street, the Lighthouse didn’t have a commercial kitchen or bathrooms.

“To be honest, we’ve been overwhelmed by the numbers of people coming in,” Nottle told The Age.

“We’re looking for a site that obviously gives us more room to run the cafe for more people, but also space to co-locate with other services … but we haven’t been able to find another location.”

Nottle denied neighbouring businesses’ concerns about antisocial behaviour had prompted the cafe’s closure. Some had reported increased violence and drug and alcohol use after the Lighthouse opened.

“For every concern that was raised, we would have had at least three or four people coming to us saying they really appreciated the model,” Nottle said.

“We went into that area because of antisocial behaviour. So, we were there to support people that were really struggling. Our goal going forward would be obviously to continue to address what are some really complex issues.”

Most of the workers at the service – it was intended there would be three social workers staffing the cafe from Monday to Friday between 10am and 4pm – would be redeployed to other roles, Nottle said.

He didn’t disclose how much of the $950,000 in government investment was left after the cafe’s five months of operation – only that the service was “tracking well financially”.

Khartoum City Cafe owner Hamada Ahmed – who had previously threatened to sue over the cafe’s location – said he was glad to see it move out, saying it made the area feel crowded and volatile.

Maribyrnong City Council had stepped up its help for local businesses, tidying the street and shopfronts, he said.

But while there were positive changes in central Footscray, “I hope they open somewhere far from the CBD business”, Ahmed said.

Newport residents Emily Carroll and Natalija Nikolovska, who do their grocery shopping in central Footscray, were among people who saw the cafe as a positive thing for the area. It had always been busy, said Carroll.

Maribyrnong Mayor Mohamed Semra said his council looked forward to The Salvation Army reopening the Lighthouse Cafe “as soon as they can”.

Local advocacy organisation Footscray Community Response said what the Lighthouse Cafe had been providing for the past five months “is miles away from meeting the need in Footscray”.

“But people sleeping rough are nevertheless describing its sudden closure as devastating and something that will make their lives much harder,” said spokesperson Shifrah Blustein.

After a million-dollar investment and photo ops for politicians, the cafe’s closure suggested “PR mattered more than real support”, Blustein said.

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