Baker District redevelopment

The site of the Baker Street parking lot historically served as an all-faith burial ground from 1827-1853. Records show that when the Town of Guelph passed a new bylaw banning human burials within city limits in 1853, known graves were moved from the public burying ground to what is now Woodlawn Memorial Park. 

The City has found human remains in this area in the past through various work and repairs, and in all cases, the remains were removed with the permission of the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, and later reinterred at Woodlawn Memorial Park in a special section devoted to these and future such finds. 

• In 2005, the City unearthed the remains of one male, one female, nine infants, and 36 incomplete remains. 
• In 2010, a sinkhole on Baker Street revealed the remains of an infant.
• In 2016 the City unearthed bone fragments from underneath Baker Street while turning off water to the Baker Street parking lot booths in preparation for their removal. These 

Following the finding in 2016, the City worked with an archeological consultant, Stantec to investigate the general site and further investigation was done in 2018 in preparation for the development of the site. 

Despite this work, we know that human remains and historical artifacts may still be found through construction. Some graves were unmarked, or markings were missing when remains were moved in 1853, some people were likely laid to rest outside of the cemetery boundaries, and Indigenous people lived on this land before settlers arrived.

We’ll continue archeological investigations throughout the construction of the Baker District including a more in-depth investigation later this year before we plan to break ground. All work of this nature is supervised by licensed archaeologists. 

In the case that more remains are found, we’ll make sure appropriate action is taken in their care and handling, including notifying all appropriate government agencies. We ensure human remains are treated with respect and dignity, and the City does not take or share photographs of any remains found. We ask that media and the public respect this direction as well.

The height and massing of the buildings has already been approved by the City of Guelph and forms part of the Secondary Plan for the downtown. Windmill’s design is in compliance within these parameters and is not seeking additional density or height from what has already been approved by the City following a full public engagement process. The City has a view corridor that restricts the location of the high rise elements of both residential towers to largely the west side of the Baker District. The same view corridor otherwise limits the height of the buildings to about 3 storeys across the balance of the Baker District. The City will be widening Baker Street as part of the district improvement and making it into a two way street. This will help to both significantly beautify the street as well as create a greater set-back between your building and the North tower of Baker leaving more light.  

The design for Park Lane South is still in the preliminary design stage and will be developed in more detail over the next year.  There are space constraints on the site which may not allow for loading zones but the City will work with the adjacent business owners as the design is finalized and to plan the construction logistics. There may be alternative solutions. 

The City is currently planning for the closure of the Baker Street lot with the anticipated closure in the fall. The current permit holders will be relocated to other City-owned parking lots. More information about this closure will be provided in the coming months.

By moving the library to the south end of the site, the proposed design for the new central library presents an opportunity to animate the intersection of Quebec and Baker streets in a new way. Between the library, new residential buildings and planned retail spaces, overall foot traffic and use of this area will increase—we expect it to be a busy, bustling space. In fact, Chapel Lane would adopt the character of what’s called a complete street, with a much heavier emphasis on pedestrian movement. This area would act as an extension of the public space and link the planned Wyndham Square through a landscaped mews to a Library Square. There’s also an opportunity to connect access to the library from St. George’s Square.

This is good question that is somewhat difficult to answer given the lack of personal details you have provided. Windmill continues to research various suitable affordable living programs and partners in the Guelph area. The programs differ quite a lot and we have not yet committed to a specific program as we still have a year before starting construction. We are endeavouring to find the most beneficial program to suit the community’s needs while making the project viable for Windmill.

The City of Guelph, with input from the community through several public consultations, determined that the new Downtown main library would be the primary institutional component of the Baker District Development. These decisions were studied with input from various external consultants prior to Council endorsing the location in 2007. Baker District is the largest available remaining site for development that can accommodate a large institutional building in the Downtown.

Thank you for your comments and feedback on the urban design master plan. As you are no doubt aware, this is the 3rd overall site plan change for the Baker District. A number of the design and planning considerations you see resulted from the initially proposed land assembly morphing back to include only the municipally owned parking lots at Baker and Wyndham Streets. This presented numerous key challenges to the overall site layout, servicing requirements, intended institutional space, and residential towers.

The City rights of way (Park and Chapel Lanes) were always planned to remain as such throughout. Our intent is to make Chapel Lane into a woonerf similar to that in front of City Hall. This will help to prioritize active transport over cars. Baker Court will be similar and is intended to be limited to occasional service vehicles and access for bicycles and cars to/from the underground parking garage for the two residential towers. It will also provide a replacement for a legal right of way to a neighbouring property’s rear parking lot.

The final design change was the main library at the south end of Baker District. The current iteration remains completely within the City’s view corridor restrictions from Eramosa Road to the Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate. The library’s current design is set at three storeys and lies just within the view corridor height restriction.

Parking is a polarizing issue within the City. We are trying to strike a balance between the needs of residents and public users today as well as those in 20-30 years.

There will be a multi-story below grade public parking garage built under the library and library square. In addition, the private components will add significant parking spaces available to the residents of those buildings. With the downtown location of Baker District, it is anticipated that many people living in the immediate area of the Downtown will chose to walk or ride their bike during a reasonable portion of the year. Secure bicycle parking will be integrated into the development.   

We share your enthusiasm for the level of demand for townhomes in Guelph. The townhomes will be likely be the last phase of the overall development in Baker District and therefore several years away. In the meantime, Windmill is focused on the library, urban squares, below grade parking beneath the entire site footprint, and the two high rise buildings. The below grade parking will extend below the townhomes as part of the first phase of the district construction.    

As construction of the overall district progresses, Windmill will assess market demand for each of the residential components to ensure that the market is supplied with the most appropriate mix of unit sizes, features and amenities.