Tear down a parking lot to put up a college campus, library and condo development?
That’s one idea being floated for an empty lot on Baker Street in downtown Guelph.
Councillors were slated to hear three proposals for the lot Wednesday night.
Some form of private development is a constant in each of the proposals, but they differ on exactly how much of the project will be private – and what the rest will entail.
The most ambitious of the three proposals calls for a new campus of Conestoga College and a new library to join condos on the site.
Marty Williams, executive director of the Downtown Guelph Business Association, says he’d prefer that to a development that is wholly or mostly done by the private sector.
“If we just were to put a condo development on the Baker Street parking lot, with no other public good, you’d get a positive impact,” he says.
“But when you add a library and a Conestoga College and a YMCA, and then you add a layer of condo dwellers on top of that … then you’ve got that rich mix … that produces more economic activity.”
Not as enthusiastic is Coun. Cam Guthrie, who says the $43 million price tag of that proposal could be better spent elsewhere.
“The majority of people do not want, I believe, to be building a multi-million-dollar downtown library at this time,” he tells CTV News.
Guthrie is running for mayor in October’s election, against incumbent Karen Farbridge, who was not available to comment.
City staff say six private sector companies have expressed interest in the site.
