This month’s Heritage Advisory Committee has a lot of new designations to offer as some pretty important properties have finally come up for designation. In other news, the heritage planning staff have notes concerning a tower project downtown and how it might impact another one of Guelph’s historic houses, plus there’s some mystery around what’s next for one of the city’s most famous bridges. Let’s check out what’s on the agenda!
NOTE #1: If you would like to delegate to one of the items at the meeting, or to access an alternative meeting format, get in touch with the clerk’s office, by email at advisorycommittees [at] guelph.ca or by calling (519) 822-1260 ext. 5603. Deadline is May 4 at 10 am.
NOTE #2: This meeting will take place in-person at City Hall and virtually on Cisco Webex. You can find the link on the agenda page for this meeting on the City’s website.
19 Dublin Street South: Draft Council Designation Report – This is a small one-storey limestone cottage located between Waterloo Avenue and Essex Street, and heritage staff consider it a an intact and representative example of early Guelph residential architecture that contributes to the city’s historic streetscape; it meets two or more of the criteria used to determine cultural heritage value or interest as set out in Ontario Regulation 9/06. This is also another voluntary designation brought forward by the property owners, like the others on this agenda.
29 Park Avenue: Draft Council Designation Report – This one is a large early-20th-century red-brick residence in the Exhibition Park neighbourhood built in 1908 for Hugh B. Callander, a member of the prominent Callander manufacturing family connected to the Callander Foundry and Manufacturing Company and the industrial growth of Guelph. It was also designed by noted local architect William Alexander Cowan, so this one meets four of the nine criteria under Ontario Regulation 9/06.
65 McTague Street: Draft Council Designation Report – Another property from the Exhibition Park area, but this time historically associated with the prominent Kilgour family. The report describes the house as a rare and highly intact example of late-19th-century Queen Anne Revival architecture in Guelph, and as such meets five of the nine criteria under Ontario Regulation 9/06.
70 Fountain Street East: Cultural Heritage Resource Impact Assessment including 75 Farquhar Street – Back in March, this project came to city council for the statutory planning meeting, so why is this a heritage matter now? Well, while the OLT took 70 Fountain East off the register in 2022, this area is now a part of the recently approved Downtown Heritage Conservation District so there are standards to uphold. According to the report, concerns for this project specifically concern the impact to the property next door, 81 Farquhar Street, which is one of the oldest homes in Guelph. The building’s podium is too close, and its proximity could impact the house negatively. Heritage planners are asking for some slight adjustments before the project proceeds.
McQuillan’s Bridge Environmental Assessment Update – City of Guelph staff are in the process of trying to figure what to do with this very important, and very stylish, heritage bridge near the old Scout camp off Stone Road. The agenda has no information about what update Heritage Planner Jack Mallon will provide, or what recommendation that the Hertiage Advisory Committee will be asked to endorse.
Guelph Politico 