Take notice that the Council of the Corporation of the City of Guelph intends to designate 15 Gordon Street as a property of cultural heritage value or interest under section 29, Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter 0.18.
Description of the property
15 Gordon Street is located between Nottingham St. and Waterloo Ave. (originally between Nottingham St. and Essex St.) The legal description is PT Lot 178, Plan 8, AS IN ROS541644, T/W ROS541644; Guelph.
Statement of cultural heritage value or interest
The residential building at 15 Gordon St is worthy of designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act because it meets six of the nine prescribed criteria for determining cultural heritage value or interest, according to Ontario Regulation 9/06 as amended by 569/22. The subject building at 15 Gordon St has design and physical value, historical and associative value, and contextual value.
Design/Physical Value
The subject property meets criterion 1 because of its construction of local limestone and as the last remaining section of the original Day’s Block.
Historical/Associative Value
The subject property meets criterion 4 because of its connections to the early commercial development of Guelph and its direct connection both geographically and thematically to the originally planned Guelph Market Square.
The subject property meets criterion 5 because of the connection to the early agriculture and commercial market landscape and is located directly across from the original Market Square site.
The subject property meets criterion 6 because of its ownership and development by builder William Day who was involved in many early limestone buildings in Guelph including several large inns and hotels in the city.
Contextual Value
The subject property meets criterion 7 because of its connections to and support of local limestone as a frequent building material in the area. This includes the early limestone homes built by William Day at 26 Gordon St., and the F.W. Stone Store at 32 Gordon St.
The subject property meets criterion 8 because it is physically linked to its geography through its use of local limestone. It is functionally linked to its surroundings due to its connection to the early market and trade district. It is visually linked to its surroundings through its building material and neoclassical style and its historically linked to the area through local builder William Day.
Description of heritage attributes
The following elements of the property at 15 Gordon St St should be considered as heritage attributes in a designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act:
- Original location across from original market square
- Building form, including:
- Box gable roof
- Gable chimneys
- Parapet end walls
- Symmetrical facade Page 7 of 8
- Local limestone construction
- Projecting pilasters
- Original Georgian window openings
- Cut-stone flat arch window openings
- Rough-tooled sills (top floor)
- 8 small square window openings on building’s south side
It is intended that non-original features may be returned to the documented earlier designs or to their documented original without requiring Council to amend the heritage designation by-law.
A more detailed description of the property’s cultural heritage value may be found in staff’s report to City Council dated June 10, 2025 at www.guelph.ca.
Notice of objection
Any person may send a notice of objection to this proposed designation, before 4 p.m. on Friday, July 18, 2025. This notice must be sent by registered mail or delivered to the Clerk of the City of Guelph and must set out the reason for the objection and all relevant facts. If a notice of objection is received, the Council of the City of Guelph shall consider the objection and make a decision whether or not to withdraw the notice of intention to designate the property within 90 days after the end of the 30-day objection period. If Council decides not to withdraw its intention to designate, a heritage designation bylaw must be passed within 120 days after the date of publication of the notice of intention to designate. Council must publish a notice of passing of the designation by-law which is followed by a 30-day appeal period when appeals of the by-law may be given to the Ontario Land Tribunal for a hearing and decision.
Stephen O’Brien
City Clerk
City of Guelph
1 Carden Street, Guelph ON N1H 3A1
For more information
Imogen Goldie (she/her), MPlan | Project Manager, Heritage Planning
Planning Services
519-837-5616 x 4240
[email protected]
Notice date: June 19, 2025