55 Delhi Street
A new project by Vesterra Property Management to convert 55 Delhi Street into apartments led me to take a walk around the building and investigate the property’s history. Built in 1909 as a residence for nursing students at Guelph General Hospital, the building was used for that purpose until the late 1950s when the Children’s Aid Society acquired it. The property is listed on the City of Guelph’s Municipal Register of Cultural Heritage Properties.
Spruce Trees – 55 Delhi Street
A recent request by Vesterra for a zoning change to allow a parking lot to be constructed in front of the apartment building will be withdrawn if Vesterra is successful in purchasing a parking lot located behind 55 Delhi Street. Currently this small lot belongs to the City of Guelph and is part of the 65 Delhi Street property, the former Delhi Street Recreation Centre. I hope that severing this parking lot will be successful as the addition of a parking lot in front would detract from the street appeal of the former nurses’ residence. Most of the trees between the street and the building would need to be removed. The evergreen trees currently in front of the building appear to have been chosen to hide the building from street view, however, so perhaps some changes to the landscaping will improve the overall appearance of the property.
Front porch – 55 Delhi Street
Vesterra hopes to preserve exterior heritage features of 55 Delhi Street, including the porch, balcony, bay windows and dormers. The developer asserts that most of the original interior features of the structure no longer remain. These features were most likely altered or removed as part of the adaptations to the building over time, especially during the time the building was owned by the Children’s Aid Society and converted from residential use.
Class of 1936 – Nursing Students in front of 55 Delhi Street
Guelph General Hospital maintained a nursing school until 1974, at which time the responsibility for educating nurses transferred to the Ontario college system. At the time of the construction of the current Guelph General Hospital buildings in the 1950s, a new training facility and residence were constructed for the nursing students who then moved out of the stately building at 55 Delhi. It will be interesting to see this building returned to residential use.
Historically Guelph 
Hello Karen.
Thank you for your well written summary of the project at 55 Delhi. If you’d be interested in seeing the inside of the building and some of the plans for the apartments there, then I would be more than happy to show them to you. It’s a fascinating project that I’m very passionate about as I feel this project can preserve this building for many generations to come.
I think its a pity that more and more historical buildings are simply demolished and replaced with concrete and steel monstrosities that no one will remember in the future. After having extensively toured the historical architecture of Europe and seeing the beautiful buildings from the past there, I sometimes wonder if the builders of 100 or 200 or 500 years ago knew, long after they were gone, that we would be admiring their handiwork? And then I look at some of the newer buildings built and wonder to myself “what will future generations think of these?” and “what kind of legacy are we building?” Or will people 100 or 200 or 500 years from now wonder “what were they only thinking about back then?”. I suppose only time will tell.
In the meantime, as a property management company, we will try and restore as many of these buildings as we can as we feel it would be a shame for Guelph to lose such spectacular reminders of our history and what sets us apart from other communities in Ontario and North America.
Best wishes Robert Eilers, President & Director of Vesterra Property Management Inc.
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Thank you, Robert. I would definitely be interested in seeing the inside of 55 Delhi at some point. That is very kind of you.
Karen
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