On April 24, visitors will again have the opportunity to participate in Doors Open Guelph, the annual celebration of the City’s history and architectural heritage.
Between 10am and 4pm, several of Guelph’s most architecturally and historically significant buildings – most of which are not generally open to the public – will open their doors for free public tours. An additional feature for 2010 is a Trails Open hiking opportunity.
The ninth Doors Open, the 2010 event will feature several new locations. Sites have been selected to make it easy for participants to move from one location to another.
This year, there has been the added challenge of working around those areas of the city that will be significantly under construction in early spring.
In the south end of the city, visitors will discover the Hammond Radio Museum on Southgate Drive, which houses more than 2,000 rare and historically significant items that reveal the development of radio over the past 100 years.
Moving north along the Hanlon Expressway, there is also the restored Italianate-style limestone house on Woodycrest Drive. Called Homewood, the house was once the home of Charles Kingsmill, the first director of the Canadian Navy, which is celebrating its centennial this year.
Another group of sites is located still further north off the Hanlon on Woodlawn Road West. There is Wellington Brewery, Canada’s oldest, independent microbrewery, producing time-honoured, traditional beers, as well as the Linamar Corporation Frank Hasenfratz Centre of Excellence in Manufacturing.
Further east is a cluster of site that revolves around the corner of Woodlawn and Woolwich Streets. On Woolwich (Highway 6) is the Ignatius Jesuit Centre, which has been operating in the 600-acre setting since 1913.
The main building, now called Orchard Park, houses many community businesses and organizations, as well as the little-known St. Philopater Coptic Orthodox Church.
Back down Woolwich is Woodlawn Cemetery Lodge in Woodlawn Memorial Park, an 1883 Gothic brick structure that was built as and continues to be the home of the cemetery keepers.
Closer to the centre of Guelph is the second oldest of the city’s stone church buildings, which is now a mosque, the home of the Islamic Society of Guelph.
Across the river, on the railway siding behind St. George’s Church, will be 1941 wooden-body Canadian Pacific Caboose 436994 which has been restored by members of the Guelph Historical Railway Association.
Doors Open Guelph is co-operating with the Guelph Hiking Trail Club for Guelph’s first Trails Open. Starting from the parking lot of Eramosa River Park, guided hikes will be led along the Radial Line Trail to discover interesting historic and geological features.
A joint undertaking of Guelph Arts Council, Heritage Guelph, and the City of Guelph Tourism Services, Doors Open Guelph 2010 is also part of part of Doors Open Ontario, an Ontario Heritage Foundation province-wide initiative to celebrate community heritage. The Guelph event will kick off the Doors Open Ontario season, which this year will see 55 communities as well as more than 20 hiking groups participate across the province.
For more information, look for the Doors Open Guelph brochure, available in mid-March; visit the Doors Open Guelph website at guelpharts.ca/doorsopenguelph; or contact Guelph Arts Council by telephone at (519) 836-3280, or email gac@sentex.net.
