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Downtown Heritage Conservation District

Downtown Guelph Heritage Conservation District Plan

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback throughout the project.

About the project

In 2021, Council approved the recommendations of the Cultural Heritage Action Plan which included: For Old Downtown, undertake a comprehensive strategy, including community consultation, to direct future cultural heritage conservation efforts and planned change.

The provincial government’s More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, significantly changed the structure of municipal heritage registers. As a result, all properties currently listed on the Municipal Register of Cultural Heritage Properties must be removed by January 1, 2025 (revised deadline January 1, 2027). About 1,700 properties will lose protections. 120 of these properties located in downtown Guelph.

Historical planning map of Guelph titled Plan of the Town of Guelf, Upper Canada, founded by the Canada Company 1827

Please note: This project began in an older version of our website. Some of the tools and information may appear different than originally designed.

Who's Listening

Imogen Goldie, Project Manager, Heritage

imogen.goldie@guelph.ca

Rebecca Sciarra, Project Manager, ASI

rsciarra@asiheritage.ca

Phases

Phases overview

Phase 1: Downtown Guelph Heritage focus group recruitment

Downtown Guelph Heritage focus group recruitment

Phase 2: Character mapping

Character mapping

Phase 3: Downtown heritage conservation survey

Downtown heritage conservation survey

Phase 4: Community character map

Community character map

Phase 5: Heritage feature prioritization

Heritage feature prioritization

Phase 6: Potential HCD plan - Objectives values and attributes

Potential HCD plan - Objectives values and attributes

Phase 7: Levels of support for an HCD in Downtown

Levels of support for an HCD in Downtown

Phase 8: Heritage Conservation District Forum

Heritage Conservation District Forum

Phase 9: Downtown Heritage Conservation District Plan survey

Downtown Heritage Conservation District Plan survey

Phase 10: Open house for HCD Plan

Open house for HCD Plan

Phase 11: Downtown HCD Plan and Guidelines development

Downtown HCD Plan and Guidelines development

Phase 12: Draft Downtown HCD plan and guidelines review

Draft Downtown HCD plan and guidelines review

Phase 13: Downtown HCD Statutory Public Meeting

Downtown HCD Statutory Public Meeting

Phase 14: Council Planning Meeting

Council Planning Meeting

Phase 15: Designation by-law in effect

Designation by-law in effect

Heritage Conservation District Forum

March 17, 2024 4:00 AM - March 24, 2024 4:00 AM

We wanted to understand the challenges and the upsides to a Heritage Conservation District in downtown Guelph, so we invited the community to share their thoughts and questions with us.

8 contributions

User 5968242 years ago Ensuring that all stakeholders and business owners have had a chance to discuss any concerns is important. The power of developers is also a concern. Our city needs housing but it must not come through the loss of what’s left of our heritage buildings. If we want downtown Guelph to be a destination for both residents and tourists, maintaining its character is critical. No one wants to see Guelph become like so many cities in Ontario that have no visual links to their past.

User 4605312 years ago The HCD a needs to include the five points intersection where Norfolk meets Woolwich. All of those buildings on Woolwich, and Baker St and Yarmouth and Norfolk ARE old downtown and that’s very obvious on the old radial plan. They should have been included in the study area from the beginning! The boundary needs to include those streets. Please ensure Option 2 for the boundary is adopted. I agree with another poster here who says this must be done quickly, before developers take more of Guelph’s history in their rush for more profits.

User 6380672 years ago

User 5326862 years ago

User 6350402 years ago Protection of lower scale townscape an important component of the heritage context of the area. The building ‘higher is better’ craze to address the current over-development housing crisis will result in a sterile sameness everywhere in the downtown. The owner of 137 Norfolk pleaded to the current provincial government to allow a 10 storey building to be constructed on their 50 by 100 foot lot. This was permitted and then un-permitted within the past year. The proposed heritage district should include the lower profile buildings along Norfolk and Woolwich up to the 5 points intersection, i.e., provision of an interesting consistent visual context

User 5793642 years ago

User 5262432 years ago Challenges are unsympathetic developers who care more about money than the community. Restoration can be costly up front, but pays off over time. Challenges will be for those buildings who are not really "heritage" (like the courtyard building on Carden) and how to incorporate new density and height without destroying the adjacent buildings. Educating the public about the value of heritage is also especially during housing crisis. When people need housing, they are willing to sacrifice other things, but then years later everyone laments what was lost in the process. The drive for height, height, height is not good for long term.

User 6754802 years ago Property owners who invest in the public realm, facades, restoration of heritage features should have access to grants or heritage tax relief policies like other cities have. Having an HCD downtown is crucial to its survival. Nobody wants to go to a place without soul, or interact in a public place that is not street-friendly or people-scaled. No questions to ask, but just a plea to get this done as soon as possible. So many developers are going to try to stop this or demolish their buildings before this happens. Don't let them!

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Upcoming and ongoing events

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Past events

Downtown HCD Plan Open House #4
Event date: May 7th, 2025 from 9:00 PM to 9:30 PM.
Guelph City Hall
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Downtown HCD open house #3
Event date: January 29th, 2025 from 9:30 PM to 11:30 PM.
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Downtown HCD open house # 2
Event date: February 20th, 2024 from 9:30 PM to 11:30 PM.
Guelph City Hall
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Downtown Heritage Conservation District open house #1
Event date: October 8th, 2023 from 8:30 PM to 9:00 PM.
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Downtown Heritage Conservation District

About the project

About Heritage Conservation Districts

Who's Listening

Phases

Heritage Conservation District Forum

8 contributions

fabplumb's challenge is:

fabplumb's question is:

pkraehli's positive aspect challenge is:

pkraehli's question is:

pkraehli's challenge is:

rainedawn's positive aspect is:

rainedawn's challenge is:

rainedawn's question is:

Filters

Upcoming and ongoing events

Past events

Downtown HCD Plan Open House #4

Downtown HCD open house #3

Downtown HCD open house # 2