For the past year, artist and educator Sharyn Seibert has been religiously sketching and painting the former Guelph Correctional Centre property.
Originally called the Ontario Reformatory, an institution purposed to reform prisoners that covered 1,000 acres in 1911, the centre was renamed the Guelph Correctional Centre and officially closed its doors in 2001.
Now, there is a remaining 265 acres of land up for sale by the province.
It is a land that Yorkland Green Hub chair Norah Chaloner says 90 per cent of Guelph residents do not know about because they assume it's private property.
“Something was ignited in me when I found out that it was in peril of becoming destroyed. I just became obsessed with painting,” says Seibert.
“I was coming out at minus 15 degrees," said Seibert. "It's an unfolding panorama every day. It looks different every day in different lighting. It's just fascinating. If I only did this for the rest of my life, I would have enough inspiration because it is so much.”
Seibert says her attachment to this property dates back to her childhood 50 years ago when she used to come here with her family to have picnics, just like many other people.
“I lived in Cambridge and we had no other reason to come to Guelph. I didn't know anyone in Guelph. The only thing I knew about Guelph was this,” says Seibert.
“We didn't even consider the inmates. When I was a child, I knew that there was this hazy idea of a prison but people used this whole park as just like a public park.”
The property reflects the hard work put in by the prisoners 100 years ago, with man-made lakes, mini falls, a stone wall, stairs carved into stone and a stone wall that distances a kilometre through the park along the trail.
Chaloner says everything was created by the inmates as a way to teach them a skill so they would be employable once they left the prison to ultimately give them a new purpose in life.
With 33 buildings on the land, the reformatory held up to 1,000 people.
“They made their own food. They had a canning factory, they had a prized dairy herd, they had a woollen mill to make their own blankets and some of their own shirts. They had 17 trades that they taught like plumbing and metallurgy and different things."
Chaloner also says the area, particularly a mini bridge has been used for wedding photos numerous times and she wants people to send their wedding photos so a part of the website could be dedicated to enjoying the park the way it was.
But now, the reformatory with all its history and beauty is in danger of being sold in pieces.
The 1,000 acres of land has been up for sale since 2001 as one unit. Chaloner says because the province did not find a buyer, they parcelled the land in different sections to put them up for sale.
The Yorkland Green Hub, a not-for-profit group created to keep this land for the public wants to purchase Parcel 2 of the land, that includes 75 acres of land and the superintendents house, in order to re-purpose and preserve the land for future generations to include a public park with shared activities for citizens that includes environmental stewardship, growing food year round and outdoor education.
The Hub holds walking tours throughout the year.
“You can see its starting to crumble in places. It has not been kept up by the province. We're desperate to look after the heritage of the place as well as use the whole site as a public park but also to be a sustainability environment centre,” says Chaloner.
Chaloner says they want to be able to teach people how to reduce their carbon footprint, have urban local food groups, a farmer market up the hill, have workshops for trades and create little cafes.
By painting the property, Seibert says she hopes to preserve the landscape by showcasing 30 of her paintings that depict the landscape with rocks, streams, ponds and trees at her show, The Yorklands Project at Atmosphere Cafe in Guelph from May 1 to June 27 with an artist talk on May 23.
“I'm so compelled. I'm so galvanized to this property,” said Seibert.
“As our world becomes increasingly controlled by electronics and social media, the need to reconnect with the fields and forests around us becomes ever more critical. York lands provides an oasis for contemplation, regeneration and connection to the wonders that surround us, It is an invaluable treasure in our community.”
