Dakota Nightclub: Ringwood site still empty as opening date pushed back
The burnt-out former Club Dakota site remains empty — and there’s more bad news for its former regulars, with grand plans for its return yet again delayed.
Outer East
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The rebirth of Ringwood’s Dakota nightclub has been pushed back to mid-2019.
Despite two sets of promised start dates earlier this year, construction is yet to begin at the burnt-out former nightclub site at 123-127 Maroondah Hwy.
Club Dakota was destroyed by a fire in May 2016, which authorities are still investigating the cause of.
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Project manager Joe Cossari Jr told Maroondah Leader in July the complex would be built by the end of this year, with the reborn nightclub opening this summer.
But last week Mr Cossari said construction had been further delayed due to a longer-than-expected process to ensure the project met appropriate engineering guidelines.
He said minor works would begin on the site before Christmas and construction would ramp up in February.
“It will be open next year for sure,” Mr Cossari said.
“It’s taken longer than expected and it’s extremely frustrating … but the reality is you can’t build anything until its all ticked off. We want everything right before we start work.”
The three-level complex will be built by Lanskey Constructions and includes the Bali-themed Bungalow beer garden on level one and the Hyde function centre on level two.
Mr Cossari said the renamed nightclub and the Fat Franks hotdog shop will open on the ground level in July, followed by The Bungalow and Hyde “this time next year”.
A handful of readers on Maroondah Leader’s Facebook page said they were hanging out for the nightclub to return.
John Feeney wanted to know if the new club would serve skittlebombs, while Ryan Drakefield hoped it would be “as lit as Dakota used to be”.
Maroondah Council approved a permit for the project in August 2017.
Mayor Rob Steane said additional plans had to be submitted and approved before work can begin, as per its conditions. The permit will expire on August 9, 2019.
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