It was with great sorrow that I watched firefighters hose down the smoldering embers of Douglas Street’s historic buildings during the Easter weekend. I’m sure it was a very sad day for those that make these buildings their homes and places of work.
Thankfully, it appears that the stone facades of all of the buildings will indeed be saved. I suspect that the rebuilding will still take some time to complete.
The view from the city’s central square looking down the street to St. George’s Anglican Church has changed little since the late 1880’s. Arguably Douglas is the most historically intact street in Guelph. Its charm has even been used in movie shoots standing in for street scenes of wartime Europe.
Douglas is expected to be closed to through motorized traffic for some time to facilitate the reconstruction of the buildings. Perhaps this unplanned street closure provides us with the silver lining we need to re-think the street. Since the closure the downtown core has lost a through street, and about 10 parking spots. Traffic in the downtown square appears unimpeded by the change.
Imagine a re-born pedestrian Douglas street with sidewalk cafes and bustling
businesses. Imagine this historical gem becoming a regional tourism destination. We now have the luxury of time to inject more life to this
part of the city.Obviously this idea needs work. It needs to consider the needs of the businesses and residents that will return and how they could be met in an
all new Douglas street. While it’s closed to motorized traffic, what better
time could we possibly have to think creatively of how we could improve this
treasure? EF