Small businesses breathe new life into historic churches

by Admin
January 4, 2025

A sign out the front of Port Lincoln’s Methodist Church, which may have once offered a parable, now advertises a competition to win a $1,500 travel voucher.

Built in 1908 for just over 1,000 pounds, the church’s original architecture is mostly still visible, missing only the spires which adorned the building’s front exterior.

Once a place of worship, it is now The Bay Room — a homewares shop.

It’s one of a growing number of churches across regional South Australia that have been given a new lease on life by small businesses that have re-purposed them into cafes, accommodation, breweries and even fish and chip shops.

The Bay Room was formerly the Port Lincoln Methodist Church, built in 1908. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Tim McGlone)

Husband and wife team David and Kristy Nisbet moved their shop into the old Methodist church in 2005, and nearly two decades later, it remains a family-run business.

According to Mrs Nisbet, the property was sold to a developer at the turn of the millennium and would have been destroyed shortly after, if not for public outcry.

“It was going to be knocked down … the town wasn’t jumping up and down, but they didn’t want to see it go,” she said.

“It is a piece of history, and fortunately, they decided to keep it. There was work done on it but it hasn’t changed too much, especially the facade.

A woman standing at a desk in a shop — Kristy Nisbet took over the building with husband David in 2005. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Tim McGlone)

“Men will come for a look and stand outside, whereas the girls are inside for half-an-hour and then they say, ‘Oh it’s a church!'”

The Nisbets admit maintenance for the 116-year-old building is more than your usual business.

But Mrs Nisbet’s son Riley, who helps run the store, said there was a commercial advantage to having a church as a shopfront.

“It’s a drawcard for sure. People come and take a look at [it] even if they don’t think they’ll be interested in what we sell,” he said.

“When we show wholesalers, they go ‘OK, that’s a really cool building for us to be showcasing our product in.'”

The inside of an old church filled with gifts and homewares — The old church is now filled with homewares. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Tim McGlone)

Economic benefit

David Kroll, senior lecturer in architecture at the University of Adelaide, said it was not just businesses who benefited from the repurposing of old church buildings.

“There are studies and reports on how heritage has economic value for towns and places,” Dr Kroll said.

“Keeping these buildings is nostalgic but it’s also economically beneficial as well because it attracts people and makes people want to live there.

A group of men standing on the steps of a church in a black and white photo — A group of churchmen in the early 20th century. (Supplied: State Library of SA)

“You look at Port Lincoln, which is a place tourists like to go, and where people go for the summer to the beach.

“Having layers of history and heritage in a town that you can see is very important for that — people don’t want to come to a place that looks like it was just built yesterday.”

A blessing in disguise

In the South Australian Mid North town of Laura lies what Craig and Cat Blesing believe is Australia’s “only church brewpub”, Little Blessings Brewery.

The couple purchased the 1875 Baptist church in 2022 when they were staying at the caravan park across the road and later discovered they had historical ties to the building.

A man and woman stand in front of a bar. — The Blesings say restoring a church is a massive task. (ABC North and West: Annabel Francis)

“The day we signed the contracts one of the original founding members took us across to the windows … they had a son named Paul who married a Blesing which was Craig’s great aunt,” Mrs Blesing said.

“The founding families are still around, always popping in and out.

“We’re pretty sure we were led here, and to be looking after the building and bringing it back to life.”

Mrs Blesing said restoring the church was a bigger job than they anticipated as they wanted to keep its historical features and “church feel”.

Apart from a stonemason who re-rendered the walls, Mr Blesing took on most of the restoration work himself.

“We lifted all the floors, plus [put in] the plumbing and we built toilets that weren’t here,” Mrs Blesing said.

“It was a big, big, big job.”

An empty church with green floor on top and the same church modernised with tables and chairs and wood flooring below. — The inside of the church before and after the restoration process. (Supplied: Cat Blesing)

Mrs Blesing said it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the community.

“We put out a call to the community to see if anyone wanted to help us roll grass, we had 13 people some of whom we didn’t even know [show up].”

If walls could talk

The community was pleased the church was being repurposed rather than being knocked down due to its significance to so many families.

One couple who were married at the church 60 years ago celebrated their anniversary at the brewery, even walking through the gate at the exact time they got married.

“We get locals or visitors in all the time that had been in the church for many years, or they went to Sunday school out the back,” Mrs Blesing said.

She said restoring the church and now running a business had been exhausting, but the satisfaction and the beautiful space was worth it.