We interrupt this summer vacation for a Heritage Guelph meeting. The time and day was reserved, though staff weren’t initially sure that there would be a need for this August meeting, but it seems like there’s one thing that they want to get done before September arrives. Put your thinking caps on because we’re going back to the property formally known as the Ontario Reformatory for a look at its future on paper.
NOTE #1: If you would like to delegate to one of the items at the meeting, get in touch with the committee liaison before Friday August 11 at noon at victoria.nagy [at] guelph.ca or by calling (519) 837-5616, ext. 2521.
NOTE #2: This meeting will take place virtually on Cisco Webex. You can find the link on the agenda page for this meeting on the City’s website.
Ontario Reformatory Heritage Conservation District Plan and Guideline Consultation 1 – Back in March, city council approved phase #1 of the Cultural Heritage District Study of the old Ontario Reformatory Lands, which included the formal boundaries. At this meeting of Heritage Guelph, the committee is going to have their first engagement about phase #2.
This second phase will focus on the development of objectives and principles when it comes to protecting the now identified cultural heritage assets within those newly established boundaries. These objectives and guidelines will ensure how the heritage value on the property is protected, managed, maintained, and enhanced over time, and it will explain to the future owners and tenants on the property what changes, restorations, and alterations they’re allowed to make. This workshop meeting asks for the committee’s feedback on a couple of things.
Under objectives, the committee will have to consider how best to conserve everything on the site right now, from the existing roads and paths to the architectural and groundkeeping features. They will also have to provide input about ensuring the site’s settler and Indigenous heritage, what public space should be included in the plan, what public amenities should be included, and what heritage permit processes should be recommended for anyone looking to make changes.
As for guiding principles, Heritage Guelph will provide comment on natural heritage systems and ecological restoration, how the natural and developed portions of the property will be protected, the potential adaptive re-use of the buildings currently on the site and whether they can be re-used, and the types of new build forms that will be allowed in the district.
Guelph Politico 