Efforts to stabilize a crumbling, historic barn in the city’s south end are underway, as the structure’s fate remains up in the air – heritage advocates and city council want to see it preserved, while the developers who own it want it taken down to make way for more housing.
The fate of the James Kidd barn, as it’s known, at 2187 Gordon St. hangs in the balance.
“Mattamy Homes is deeply committed to building more homes for the residents of Guelph and also continuing to work with the City of Guelph on possible solutions that respect the cultural heritage of the James Kidd Barn,” reads a statement provided to GuelphToday by Brent Carey, Mattamy’s vice-president of communications, via email. “Central to this effort is helping to realize the City of Guelph’s vision for the Clair-Maltby Secondary Plan, including the intensification corridor along Gordon Street, where the barn is located.”
The property’s ownership group, which includes Mattamy, is appealing city council’s mid-May decision to deny it a demolition permit for the barn, built around 1850, and a 1907-build farmhouse on the property, citing safety concerns for repair workers and a potential decrease in the number of homes it can build there if it can’t tear the building down.
The development group is also appealing council’s February decision to designate the property for protection under the Ontario Heritage Act, making the same arguments in favour of demolition.
Barn restoration work is estimated to cost $1.5 million, the developers have claimed. Last September, while unsuccessfully appealing a work order from city officials to repair the building, it pegged the cost at $400,000.
“In early September, Mattamy initiated a process to stabilize the barn in its current location and condition as we work toward a long-term and mutually agreeable plan with the city,” Carey’s statement continues. “We look forward to finding a balanced solution that gets more much-needed housing built for Guelph families while recognizing the heritage value of the James Kidd Barn.”
In the group’s latest appeal, it claims 200 to 500 fewer homes can be built on the site if the barn is to be maintained in its current spot.
