Note: This is the 3,000th posting to the Ward 2 Blog.
I am writing today to express my concerns over the proposed building heights for our heritage downtown.
Surely a peek at once was downtown Guelph and what now is will make clear the folly in letting modern architecture projects preside over our priceless heritage builds. Do not devalue these properties either monetarily or aesthetically by allowing looming new giants to overshadow them.
Paris, France got it right when Napoleonic law forbade the construction of any building taller than 12 storeys or the existing classic architecture. Sadly, Parisians, too, are struggling with big corporate projects trying to wedge their way into the city’s limits and prime real estate.
“The largest business district of Paris, La Défense, showcases multiple skyscrapers in a compact area, but it’s outside official city limits. In fact, only a handful of buildings inside Paris proper are more than 12 stories [sic]. And that’s how Parisians like it; 62 percent of residents polled say they dislike skyscrapers within the city limits, according to a poll on the World Architecture News website.”
Like any successful city, Guelph’s visual appeal is a big part of its allure to visitors. To detract from the downtown’s beauty is to take money out of the downtown businesses’ tills. Maintain downtown Guelph’s heritage architecture appeal. No one wants to live, work, or visit in shadows. Think ahead, learn from the past, and act accordingly.
The Secondary Plan states “a heritage Conservation Analysis is proposed…this will be an important document to further support height restrictions”. This and any other related analyses should be complete prior to adopting a change to the policy on building heights and approving major high-rise development in the core.
Council is not qualified to make such assessments and, therefore, cannot make any decision without these findings. JT
