The Rotary Club of Guelph celebrated 100 years of community service in 2020 and chose a number of special projects to uplift our community after extensive consultations with the Guelph community, fellow Rotarians, the City of Guelph, and the Rotary Club Charitable Foundation.
Years before, starting in 2008, our club had committed to turn the 100-acre Rotary Forest by Guelph Lake into an exciting hub for our community. Building on this amazing project, the Rotary Club of Guelph’s Centennial Project had four wonderful elements, each focused on the benefits of active living, environmentalism, family time and education for youth and all ages.
The first aspect of our Centennial Project was a commitment to support the building of a new GRCA Guelph Lake Nature Centre. It will offer a variety of programs for schools, families, youth and community groups to get outdoors and connect with nature, and expects to receive over 200,000 visitors each year. The new Nature Centre will be the gathering place for all the visitors enjoying the park at Guelph Lake, where they can access information and take part in nature programs. It will also be a warming centre and location for programs such as Learn To Ski and Star Walks. The Centre will have modern learning spaces for the over 20,000 young people who will benefit each year from hands-on programs.
The second component of our Centennial Project, built in 2020, is the trail within the 100-acre Rotary Forest. This trail highlights beautiful points of interest and connects the Rotary Forest with the future Nature Centre within the Guelph Lake Park. Additional amenities include benches placed at intervals along the trail, as well as interpretive and directional signage and kiosks.
The third aspect of the Club's Centennial Project is the new Rotary City link Trail, built in 2022. This trail is already busy and supports families seeking economical outdoor experiences, dog-walkers, fitness enthusiasts, newcomers to Canada and groups gathered for activities like hiking, biking and nature photography. The Rotary Trail link is a 1.8 km scenic hike along the banks of the Speed River for part of its length. This Rotary Trail link is 2.4 metres wide and provides an all-weather, fully accessible link from the city’s trail system to the dam.
The fourth component of our Centennial project, which is still in the planning stage, is an exciting, education-oriented outdoor observatory space. In collaboration with GRCA and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Kitchener) it will present opportunities to inspire youth and educate all-ages with a window into the universe. Education programs for school children and programs for families will lead to greater interest and literacy in science and space. Light pollution in cities means that too few people get to see and really appreciate what the night sky has to offer. This Centennial Gift to the Community will provide the means to show people what’s up there. The observatory will provide the residents of Guelph with a chance to look through telescopes and see with their own eyes the wonders of the night sky and the universe. When people look through a telescope at the moon or Saturn or other planetary bodies the very first thing they say (almost without exception) is “Oh Wow!” The night sky will be something to marvel at. There are thousands of Canadians making major contributions to science, to space exploration, including some from Guelph. This is an opportunity to expand that contribution, perhaps dramatically. It's an opportunity to give many young people a choice in life they may not realize is there. All Rotarians can be proud of this incredible, award-winning, legacy project for our community to enjoy for countless generations to come.