The mayor says a new proactive approach to partying seemed to work on Saturday for St. Patrick’s Day, but he acknowledges many revellers probably made the trip to neighbouring Waterloo.
Mayor Cam Guthrie said the city wanted to be prepared for St. Patrick’s Day to avoid a repeat of what occurred at University of Guelph Homecoming in the fall, when parties and the messes left behind led to anger and frustration for many Guelph residents.
The city worked with all branches of the emergency services, the University of Guelph, various neighbourhood groups and the Central Student’s Association to avoid a repeat of the level of partying that occurred during homecoming, said Guthrie.
“When we knew St. Patrick’s Day was landing on a Saturday we wanted to ensure that we had all hands on deck,” said Guthrie.
In a news release, the Guelph Police Service said it responded to 467 calls for service between 7 a.m. March 17 and 7 a.m. on March 19, with no major incidents to report related to St. Patrick’s Day.
The stakeholders took a proactive approach, using a campaign of flyers and the University fo Guelph Student Life engaged students in a campaign of respecting yourself, your neighbourhood and the city you live in, said Guthrie.
A ‘pop up party’ on Chancellor’s Way attracted an estimated 3,500 people during homecoming.
About 40 properties known to be the source of problems in the past were each paid a visit by city police and the U of G off-campus coordinator, said Guthrie, to let them know they were on the radar.
“We put people on notice that we weren’t going to take that type of behaviour anymore,” he said.
Linda Davis of the McElderry neighbourhood group said she is pleased with the positive results of the proactive campaign to curtail excessive partying.
“The neighbourhoods that had severe problems in the past didn’t have any issues to report at St. Patrick’s Day. Given what some of them had to endure at homecoming, this was welcome and I think the response of the city, the police and the university, as well as the community groups, played a part in keeping everyone calm,” said Davis.
Guthrie acknowledges many students may have travelled to Waterloo to take part in the festivities there, most notably on Ezra Avenue.
Waterloo Police told CBC on Monday that at its peak, over 22,000 people attended parties on Ezra Avenue.
“Yes there were some that went to Waterloo, but there were quite a few that did not. We thank those people for still enjoying St. Patrick’s Day, but doing it in a respectful way,” said Guthrie.
Guthrie said that kind of reputation for street parties is exactly what the stakeholders were trying to avoid after homecoming in Guelph, especially in the residences on Chancellor’s Way.
“That is why we we wanted to make it very well known in advance that we were being proactive with our communication that it was not acceptable,” said Guthrie. “We were looking for people to still have a good time, but to do it in a respectful way.”
Guthrie said he participated in a ride-along with Guelph’s chief of police Jeff DeRuyter in the afternoon on Saturday, where the pair attended various locations like Chancellor’s Way and downtown.
“I saw officers on bikes, officers on foot patrol and cruisers everywhere. The Guelph Police was really making sure that its presence was known,” said Guthrie.
Guthrie said he later returned to those areas by himself around 11:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Everything seemed very orderly,” he said.
Davis said the community response to St. Patrick’s Day celebrations was probably a good test run for how the community will handle next year’s homecoming.
