One of Melbourne’s inner West community institutions of food, arts and music is under threat of shutting down and being turned into a residential building, and they need you to help save them.
Footscray favourite, the Dancing Dog Cafe, has currently been listed for sale and as such, the local community are desperate to save the iconic spot from being sold to developers by creating a very ambitious crowd-funding campaign via the Pozible platform.
With only ten days left until the deadline, organisers behind “Save the Dancing Dog building” have only raised just under $46,000.00, which is rather shy of their intended $1.5 million, to which they state is “still not enough”.
The group aim to buy the building with the intention of restoring it to establish a beautiful, brand-spanking new creative hub. In addition to this, they believe a successful campaign such as this will inspire, engage and empower the local community and will make Footscray as a whole even more attractive for future investors to continue building a strong, cultural area akin to the High Line project in New York City.
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Organisers have assured that any money pledged will not actually be deducted from accounts unless the target amount has been reached. They also explain what and how the hopeful multi-millions will be used:
“All the money collected will go to an incorporated association – a legal entity in its own right that can buy the building. The association will own the building. It will be made up of members – all the people or groups that pledge $200+ to this campaign and people who give a certain amount of time. Those members will elect from their ranks a Committee of Management, responsible for managing the building and making decisions about its use.
“The Committee will be bound by purposes and Constitution of the association, which will put parameters around how decisions must be made and how the building can be used. The Constitution will also require the Committee to consult regularly with its members and incorporate the results of those consultations into its decision making processes.
“The association will be not-for-profit, which means there will be no financial return for those putting into this project. Instead your return will be in the form of the joy that comes from saving the building and bringing the community together.”
As with any crowd-funding campaign, there are a list of rewards that pledgers will receive should they fork-over their hard-earned dollars, including: having a “say” in the future of the building, lifetime memberships, names on plaques and even non-executive director status.
Situated on 42 Albert Street in Footscray, the beloved spot is surrounded by one of the most diverse communities in Australia with strong Asian and African influences. The venue has morphed from a chilled café with Yoga, Belly Dance, African Drumming and Salsa with an Art Gallery, to housing an independent live Theatre, as well as a bar with live music, comedy, poetry and open mic nights.
For further information on how you can be a part of saving the Footscray building, jump over to their Pozible campaign site.
