There are a number of ways of looking at the Wellington Street Dam, which breaks up the flow of the Speed River in a pretty dramatic way just west of the city’s historic Gow’s Bridge in Royal City Park.
Some see it as environmentally desirable to remove the dam, along with the weir structures downstream from it. The city’s river systems management plan has recommended that the dam “be removed for improved water quality, habitat diversity, fish habitat, fish passage and recreational benefits.”
The Grand River Conservation Authority seems to view the dam as a redundant relic – no longer much needed for flood control, and a structure that the GRCA would like the city to assume full responsibility for now that a 50-year operating agreement has expired.
The dam isn’t old enough to be thought of as historic – it’s less than half the age of the nearby masonry arch Gow’s Bridge, which dates back to 1897.
And yet the dam has its fans.
The owner of the canoe rental operation at The Boathouse says demolishing it would significantly reduce water levels on the Speed and Eramosa rivers, making his canoe operation unviable.
It’s well used as a car-free pedestrian crossing for people out exercising, walking their dogs or just crossing the river in Royal City Park to get somewhere else
And now the consultants hired by the city to work on what would be Guelph’s first heritage conservation district have made it clear they are also fans. They say the boundaries of the proposed Brooklyn and Gordon Street Heritage Conservation District should be expanded to include the dam and the scenic body of open water that the dam creates just west of Gow’s Bridge. Their new report on the proposed heritage district suggests the dam be viewed through the lens of its contribution to the cultural heritage value of the Speed River in the area of Royal City Park.
There’s a lot to chew on in their lengthy report, which will be discussed at a Jan. 17 public meeting on the heritage district. And the proposed inclusion of the dam in the district likely won’t be uppermost in many minds of people wrestling with what it would mean to have their homes located within a heritage district. But it’s a fascinating issue just the same – certainly not just water under the bridge.