New Civic Museum Project

Concept 1 Concept 2

It’s not every day a city is able to take a historic 1850s landmark and retrofit it so that it may become a beautiful “new” home for historic collections. That’s exactly what’s about to take place atop the hill at Norfolk Street beside the city’s much-loved Church of our Lady. The New Guelph Civic Museum, located in the Loretto Convent, will be a cultural flagship for the City of Guelph.

Highlights:

  • Approximately 30,000 sq ft - twice the size of the current location
  • Larger children’s gallery
  • Research room
  • Appropriate storage for collection of 30,000 items and growing
  • Prominent location in the downtown
  • Designed to meet LEED Silver Accreditation

View site plan for new Civic Museum (PDF)

The City of Guelph has signed a long term lease (50 years with a 25 year renewal) with the Diocese of Hamilton for the Convent building and the land at a cost of $10. per year.  The “old” museum building at 6 Dublin Street South will be sold, which was a decision of City Council..

On Monday, November 30, 2009 City Council approved awarding the construction tender to Harbridge & Cross of Concord, ON.  The official launch of construction took place on Friday, January 22 and the general contractor mobilized the following week. Completion of the project is currently scheduled for mid-November 2011 with moving and exhibit installations to follow. The new Civic Museum will open in early January at the latest and a grand opening is tentatively scheduled for February 2012.

This is an adaptive reuse project designed by The Ventin Group Architects. The total cost of the project is $12.7 million with $5 million from the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Intiative, Province of Ontario, and $1.5 million from Cultural Spaces Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage.

The final piece of the funding was a $500,000 local fundraising campaign.  The campaign was chaired by John Valeriote and members were Martin Bosch, Ian Brown, Susan Brown, Ken Hammill, Gil Stelter, Murray Taylor, Morris Twist, and Museum Director Katherine McCracken.
On September 21, 2010 a generous and thoughtful $200,000 donation from the Estate of Hugh Guthrie, Q.C. was announced.  Hugh served as Honourary Chair of the Capital Campaign Committee and his death in June 2010 was a tremendous blow to the community.  His commitment to heritage and this project, however, will continue to live on as the archives in the new museum will be named in his memory.
On March 24, 2011 John Valeriote announced that the campaign has surpassed its goal and had raised an amazing $772,000.  Thank you Guelph!  Although the campaign has officially concluded, donations can be made here online, at the Service Guelph desk at City Hall, or at Guelph Civic Museum, 6 Dublin Street South, Guelph, ON  N1H 4L5.
Construction completion is now scheduled for August or September 2011 and a grand opening will take place in the late fall.

The final piece of the funding was a $500,000 local fundraising campaign.  The campaign was chaired by John Valeriote and members were Martin Bosch, Ian Brown, Susan Brown, Ken Hammill, Gil Stelter, Murray Taylor, Morris Twist, and Museum Director Katherine McCracken.

On September 21, 2010 a generous and thoughtful $200,000 donation from the Estate of Hugh Guthrie, Q.C. was announced.  Hugh served as Honourary Chair of the Capital Campaign Committee and his death in June 2010 was a tremendous blow to the community.  His commitment to heritage and this project, however, will continue to live on as the archives in the new museum will be named in his memory.

On March 24, 2011 John Valeriote announced that the campaign has surpassed its goal and had raised an amazing $772,000.  Thank you Guelph!