Take notice that the Council of the Corporation of the City of Guelph intends to designate 106 Carden 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
The current legal description of the subject real property is Lots 2 & 3, Plan 8; Part Lots 1 & 4, Plan 8, Parts 24 & 25, 61R11523; Guelph.
Statement of cultural heritage value or interest
The subject property is worthy of designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act because it meets seven of the prescribed criteria for determining cultural heritage value or interest, according to Ontario Regulation 9/06 as amended by Ontario Regulation 569/22. The heritage attributes of 106 Carden Street display: design or physical, historical or associative, and contextual value.
Design/Physical Value
The subject property satisfies Criterion 1 because it is a representative and early example of Guelph’s architectural styles throughout the 19th century. Three of these styles related to the Royal Hotel are Neo-classical lightness, Georgian formality/proportion, and Italianate decoration, all of which reflect Guelph’s vernacular commercial architecture. The building seen today was constructed in stages over a period of 20 years.
The subject property meets Criterion 2 as it displays a high degree of craftsmanship seen in its load-bearing ashlar masonry construction using local smooth-faced, hammer dressed limestone with the majority of joints being tape pointed. This pointing method accentuates the rectilinear stonework and helps to visually square any imperfect edges. Although asymmetrical in its original design due to the triple window feature, the façade shows typical aspects of Georgian architecture through its proportioned and balanced asymmetry. The repetitive nature of the large windows is indicative of Neo-classical form and lightness and the trademark flat arch limestone heads with a centre keystone and thin, tooled limestone sills are indicative of the simplicity of Georgian design. The curved window lintels in the later block and the brackets in the eaves are reminiscent of Italianate detailing.
The side gable roof has a low-medium pitch with four firewalls corbelled at the façade. Each firewall supported two stone chimney shafts connected by a flat parapet wall with large copings. Not all of the original ten chimney shafts remain but three over the middle sections have retained their original stone caps. The firewalls are corbelled out at the eaves to form a natural transition from façade to parapet. The detailing is also reminiscent of Italianate and Georgian architecture. The eastern most corner of the building has large quoins to help provide strength in the wall construction. The interior contains only two items of historical interest: the original central staircase and the original heavy timber roof framing construction (queen post trusses) seen in the attic. Although these interior features have not been identified as heritage attributes, Heritage Planning staff encourage that the central stairway
and the heavy timber roof framing members of the original building be retained.
Historical/Associative Value
The subject property meets Criterion 4 due to its direct association with the founding of Guelph, as it was part of the initial development of Lots 2 and 3 of John Galt’s 1827 Plan for the Town of Guelph. Built with Guelph’s locally quarried limestone, there has been a hotel on this property since the 1830s which makes the property the oldest continuously operating business in Guelph. As a hotel in the 1830s the property offered sanctuary to early Guelph settler farmers providing them with food and lodgings while downtown Guelph established itself as a functional town. Many prominent people have stayed at the hotel throughout its hotelier history, and the Royal Hotel has been synonymous with two Royal visits to Guelph, prominent speeches by politicians, and was the first seat of local judicial court.
The subject property meets Criterion 5 because it yields important information about the culture and community of Downtown Guelph, particularly the development of hotels in Guelph’s downtown. There are historic and possibly physical links to what could have been the first hotel in Guelph. Although many hotels were built on Carden Street in the latter half of the 19th century, the Royal Hotel was the first to be established and as such has a direct link to the community that founded Guelph.
Contextual Value
The property meets Criterion 7 because of its prominent front façade forms the beginning of an uninterrupted block face on Carden Street that is a fundamental part of the north street wall of the Market Ground area of the Old Downtown cultural heritage landscape.
The property meets Criterion 8 because the Royal Hotel building is important in defining and maintaining the heritage character of the Carden Street streetscape and John Galt’s Market Ground area. The Royal Hotel also forms part of a cultural heritage landscape with connections to the Town Hall, Wilson Street, and the adjacent railway station.
The subject property meets Criterion 9 because, as one of the first properties to be built upon in Guelph’s downtown, the Royal Hotel is a prominent part of the historical and social development of downtown and thus has long served as a major landmark in this area of Guelph since the mid-19th century. The structure was built on Lots 2 and 3 of Registered Plan 8, a plan devised by John Galt in 1827 and surveyed by John McDonald in 1855. Lots 2 and 3 are two of six lots that hold a prominent position in relation to the planning of Guelph’s downtown and the Market Ground area and, as such, any building constructed on these lots was an integral part of that initial development.
Description of heritage attributes
The following elements of the property at 106 Carden Street should be considered as heritage attributes in a designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act:
3-storey, building mass and gable roof lines of the 1862 and 1880-1892 blocks
Limestone roofline firewalls, corbelled details, and parapets from the 1862
and 1880-1892 blocks
Existing limestone chimney stacks, shafts, and remaining chimney pots
Exterior limestone walls including smooth-faced, hammer dressed ashlar limestone, the presence of tape pointing, stone heads, limestone sills, quoined corners
Shape and location of all original window and door openings based on historical images and references
Two carved date stones (one above the triple windows on the third floor and the other above the first-floor window in the right block)
Wooden lintels above the first-floor openings (possibly from the original 1840 construction in the left block)
Scale of opening of the main entrance and two cast iron columns located either side of the Carden Street entrance door
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 September 10, 2024 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, October 11, 2024. 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
Stephen Robinson, Senior Heritage Planner
Planning Services 519-822-1260 x 2496
Notice date: September 12, 2024
