Just a quick note to acknowledge more of our findings regarding the above property and it’s dealings in the recent past during our community meeting tonight. It was a great showing with 50 – 60 concerned residents from the area, plus a heartfelt thank you to our two honorable councillors from our ward, Van Hellemond and Findlay, who dedicated their time to attend and speak at this meeting.
Clearly, the common feelings from all of the people from the area are that:
– Everyone in our area were promised a full block of park by the builders, real estate agents, and developers of the area upon purchasing our homes, that this park would include a full access from all four surrounding streets from the beginning of this development (should mention, here, that there are still no signs of any play apparatus, etc, anywhere to be found, yet other parks that are much newer in the city boast all new equipment and a clear designation of a public park)
– Best use of land- The old house remaining on the property should be designated as a refurbished community building or torn down in whole or in part and established as a heritage property either in a “ruins” setting or with an honorary plaque, etc commemorating the Wilson family and their heritage and history as early Guelph settlers- NEVER resold to a private individual, and NEVER have any acreage severed from it.
– CLEARLY- No one was ever consulted or informed about any proposal that this property would ever be sold or severed from the existing park land (some spoke that maybe something was posted in the Tribune, but that was the extent of it)
– The Heritage designation- everyone in attendance agreed that besides the two old windows that can be found in this abandoned wreck of a house may be classed as “unique to the era”, there were no other outstanding significant areas that could be found ANYWHERE to classify this building as a heritage building. It was torn down entirely after 50 years in the early 1900’s, it has been revamped many times (poorly) over the years thereafter, degrading it significantly, plus the very fact that the Wilsons were completely gone from the area in the 1940’s, and it has been entirely uninhabited for over 7 years, speaks volumes.
– Everyone in attendance felt that this building and the manner in which it has been dealt with, has been completely withheld from the community, and that the tax payers in this area should have been consulted with directly before a decision was forwarded to try to designate this building as a heritage building, sever the lot???, and damage the property values of all of the people affected in our area.
– Since this was brought before coucil in Feb 2011, huge changes and findings have occurred, and are so relevant to the future of the concerned citizens of the area and generations to come, that this issue requires immediate attention from all of our honorable councillors in our city to quickly and thoughtfully bring about a decision that will help retain the very things that were promised to our home buyers of the area, and ensure that the right treatment of this property will benefit the entire city and it’s people, for generations to come.
Please Councillors, we understand that you have huge commitments to the people in your own respective wards that you diligently represent, but we ask that you please take a moment to drive by this park and the building in question, consider carefully the people’s concerns, and formulate your own unbiased opinions on what would be the right thing to do for our community.DP