The Manor, Guelph’s only strip club, is listed as a historic monument

A long-established building in Guelph, now known as the only strip club in the south of the city, is being placed under heritage protection.

Due to its historical value, the mansion at 211 Silvercreek Parkway South will soon be protected.

According to Stephen Robinson, this means that any demolition or reconstruction proposal that would affect the heritage site must first obtain planning permission.

Robinson is Guelph’s chief historic preservation officer and presented the staff report to council on June 13.

He added that The Manor meets five of the nine criteria for heritage protection as the building has both historical and contextual value.

“The original design of the 1891 house would be protected by the bylaw,” Robinson said.

“This includes all external stone walls, all external timber cladding of the original doors and window openings, the slate roof cladding, the existing chimney stacks and any surviving stained glass windows.”

The current owner of The Manor is Sam Cohen, but the business has been passed down in his family.

Cohen told CBC News he will continue to treat the building the way it deserves.

“We’ve been here for so long, we understand the heritage, we know what we have here,” he said. “We’ve looked after it for the last 30 years and we continue to maintain the building.”

When asked what he liked most about the building, Cohen replied that it was the overall appearance.

“It obviously looks like an older castle, the old Sleeman estate. We have numerous pictures inside the building that actually show what the building was. What purpose it served and what it actually looked like in the 20th century,” he said.

“We haven’t really changed anything other than the paint,” Cohen added. “We’ve maintained the roof, we’ve maintained many of the structures inside and outside the building. I’d like to say we’ll be doing that for many years to come.”

LISTEN | The Manor, Guelph’s only strip club, is listed as a historic monument:

Heritage History

The mansion has deep historical roots in Guelph.

The building dates back to the mid-19th century when it was originally built by the Sleeman family. George Sleeman completed construction of the house in 1891 and is now known for the brewery of the same name.

John Sleeman is George’s grandson who continues the brewing legacy and is founder and chairman of Sleeman Breweries.

Sleeman said he was surprised to hear that his great-grandfather’s house would be listed as a historic monument.

“Our family hasn’t been in the building or lived in it since the late 1950s. I drive by it a lot because I have the brewery in Guelph and our distillery downtown. So I drive by it a lot and it’s still there and operating as a business,” Sleeman said.

He added that when the house was built, breweries had been in operation for generations and his grandfather wanted his house and business to last for many years.

“He had the means to build a house out of stone quarried locally. He also had the financial means to bring in craftsmen and tradesmen from Europe who could build the furniture, the stairs and everything else,” Sleeman explained.

“So he built it to last and I’m very pleased that it’s lasted as long as it has and hopefully with the heritage designation it will continue to do so because I have two sons and two daughters and the two boys work with me at the distillery. When they drive past the house it’s nice for them to look up and say, ‘Hey, that’s my great-great-grandfather’s house.'”

Sleeman said he spent most of his time in the house as a young boy and therefore has few but fond memories of the property.

“There was a huge chimney,” Sleeman recalled. “You could touch certain bricks in the chimney and parts of the chimney opened up into little tunnels and as a little kid that was great.”