Family members of the Sydney Siege victims will visit the infamous Martin Place Lindt Cafe when it re-opens next month.
The Lindt cafe in Martin Place – the scene of the Sydney siege in which a gunman and two hostages were killed – will reopen in March with a permanent memorial to the victims.
The cafe, where lawyer Katrina Dawson and cafe manager Tori Johnson were killed after gunman Man Haron Monis took 18 hostages, has been boarded up since December.
The families of Ms Dawson and Mr Johnson welcomed news of the reopening and the new memorial.
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“Although it will be difficult at first, we hope to be able in time to return to the Lindt cafe so that [Katrina’s] children can continue to experience one of [her] great joys,” said Ms Dawson’s husband Paul Smith.
Mr Johnson’s partner Thomas Zinn said he hoped to see Martin Place regain its status as an important social hub.
“[Tori] always had so much pleasure in making other people happy or [putting] a smile on their face,” Mr Zinn said.
“We would like for people to return to Martin Place and smile again.”
Lindt Australia chief executive officer Steve Loane said he did not expect all staff would want to return to work.
“The last few weeks have been like a rollercoaster [of] emotion for everybody, but they were really positive … it’s been amazing how strong they’ve been,” Mr Loane said.
“Some of the team have indicated they do want to come back.
“But we’ve put no pressure on them and they can make their decisions closer to the date on how much involvement they want.
“And I’m sure there are some who will not want to come back to work.”
This article originally appeared on ABC and was republished here with full permission.
Top Comments
"The infamous Lindt Cafe?" No, it's the Lindt Cafe. The siege was infamous.
Thus making it the infamous Lindt Cafe. Otherwise Martin Byrant isn't infamous, his rampage was, and so on. Let's save the pedantic corrections for where they are actually needed.
No, my dear, you have yet missed the point. Martin Bryant IS infamous, as was his rampage. Man Monis was infamous, as was his siege. Port Arthur and Lindt Cafe are just locations. Let's not tarnish an innocent cafe with words like 'infamous' when it was just going about its daily business before a monstrosity took place.
But, my dear, Port Arthur IS infamous for the terrible massacre that occurred there. Just as Auschwitz is. Or is that just a place too, sweetie?
Auschwitz/Birkenau was purpose built as a concentration/extermination camp and for no other reason. The Lindt cafe I believe was chosen by Monis due to its location and could have easily been any cafe/shop. People will no doubt link the Lindt cafe to the events of that day, but I can't see any reason for it not to reopen.