Construction Underway on Guelph Gurdwara

Guelph Sikh society amends plans for proposed temple due to rising construction projections - May 20, 2015

Work on Guelph’s Sikh temple begins - Jul 05, 2012

Sep 21, 2015: GUELPH — Finally, construction has begun on the new Sikh gurdwara in south end Guelph.

A ground-breaking ceremony that attracted hundreds of local and visiting Sikhs, dignitaries and neighbourhood residents took place on the bare plot of land at 410 Clair Rd. E. near Victoria Road South, over the weekend.

Dr. Ravi Rai, spokesperson for the Guelph Sikh Society said the ceremony marked the beginning of a continuous building process that starts now and should take about nine months to complete. The estimated cost of the building is $6.5 million to $7 million, he added.

Rai said the funds needed to complete the project are now in place. He said $200,000 was raised on the weekend, and hundreds of thousands more had been donated previously. About $5.1 million in loans have been secured, including a $4 million bank loan.

"We are starting off the construction of the building today," Rai said on Monday. Earthmoving equipment was on the site Monday. "The money and everything is in place.

Planning for the temple began well over five years ago. When news of its coming to a fast-growing residential subdivision in the south end first broke, some residents voiced opposition.

At that time, 410 Clair Rd. E. was a single-detached house on a large plot of land, surrounded by open space and a rapidly creeping residential development. It is now walled in on three sides by new homes.

Back in 2010, a group called Westminster Woods Residents' Association began mounting an Ontario Municipal Board challenge against the building of the temple that never came to fruition. The group cited inadequate parking on the temple site, traffic hassles, and architectural asymmetry from the surrounding homes.

The Sikh community was optimistic the project would begin shortly after the challenge was dropped. But designing, planning, financial and weather challenges caused numerous delays.

In the text of his remarks to those gathered at the ground-breaking ceremony, Rai made reference to the challenges the Sikh community has faced over the past two decades in Guelph, including acts of vandalism and prejudice.


Thursday, September 17, 2015

But the focus of the project is all about the future, he said. The temple is emblematic of a future that embraces diversity.

"In the future, communities across Canada just like Guelph will be home to immigrants and refugees fleeing persecution from all corners of the world," he said in his speech. "We are not just building a gurdwara here in Guelph, we are building a culture of acceptance here in Canada."

He said the Sikh community is an integral part of the greater Guelph community. Its children attend local schools, its members run local businesses and work in most local industries.

"We deserve to have a place to worship where our elders can convene, where our children can learn," he said in his remarks. "We deserve to have a facility where our community does not need to overflow into the lobby."

Former Guelph MP Frank Valeriote said raising the funds for the temple was a "huge accomplishment" for the local Sikh community.

"I think it is a giant leap forward for the Guelph community as a whole, to have a more noticeable presence of a very accomplished community, one that has contributed significantly to our cultural mosaic," Valeriote added. "They have lent so much to the richness of the diversity in our community, and now their presence will be that much more seen with the beautiful gurdwara they are building."

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