Big changes ahoy for Cullen Bay’s Boat Shed cafe
ONE of Darwin’s most popular waterside breakfast spots, the Boat Shed cafe at Cullen Bay, is gearing up for a major transformation
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ONE of Darwin’s most popular waterside breakfast spots, the Boat Shed cafe at Cullen Bay, is gearing up for a major transformation.
Business owner John Bonnin, who bought the iconic Buzz restaurant to Cullen Bay with its quirky see-through men’s toilet, said the NT Government’s decision to spend $10 million on reinvigorating the Cullen Bay precinct gave him the confidence to embark on a strategic new direction for the Boat Shed.
Mr Bonnin has released these concept plans which see more glassed, airconditioned areas in the Boat Shed, current boardwalk seating structures removed and replaced with more modern shade structures and other improvements.
The Boat Shed revamp will take advantage of the water features, the marina views and the ambience that goes with this.
“The intention is to change the boardwalk completely and transforming it into something fresh, modern and inviting,” Mr Bonnin said.
He said the redevelopment would be done in two stages. The first will transform the area immediately in front of the Boat Shed cafe and the second will transform the water’s edge.
Mr Bonnin would not reveal just how much his expansion plans would cost other than to say it was “plenty”.
“I would not be doing this if I were not confident the new Cullen Bay is going to tick an awful lot of boxes as a new leisure precinct magnet,” he said.
“Had the Government not gone ahead and provided the funding to reinvigorate this precinct I would have been moving out.
“Instead I am now reinvesting and throwing the anchor down and staying.
“With the design change comes a concept change, which I will have more to say about later.
“It is something in itself that will become a major tourist attraction and a major drawcard for Darwin.
“It will seat more people in the wet season in a much more comfortable, fully airconditioned environment. It’s way too hot sitting outside, so the market for us stopped as soon as the temperature starts to go up and we are hoping that the new look will mitigate that with more airconditioned space in spaces that are currently outside.”
The Boat Shed currently runs morning to afternoon, but once the changes are made it will be an evening venue as well.
“We will still have the breakfast and lunch trade, but the new model will completely change to become a must-go-to venue,” Mr Bonnin said.
“I am hoping to have this completed by Easter. There is a lot of red tape to be cleared … it’s a fairly arduous process of approval which takes time.
“That’s one of the big problems Darwin has got. It takes an awful lot to get things done, but I know the Government is keen to try and fast-track a lot of those processes.
“That would be really good to see that as an outcome.”
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Mr Bonnin has had the Boat Shed for 10 years and been down at Cullen Bay for 24 years. He is one of the last of the first-generation business operators still at Cullen Bay and says the time for change is long overdue.
“The Cullen Bay precinct has got old and tired over 20 years and we want to be a part of breathing new life into the area,” he said.
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