By chance, the weekend we were in Toronto, the annual “Doors Open” event was held, a city-wide celebration offering free, rare access to more than 155 landmarks. We have a similar event in Ottawa, usually held in June.
We hadn’t planned to visit anything specific, so we went with the flow. First I went to the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre on Yonge Street—the two stacked theatres are the last surviving Edwardian stacked theatres in the world. It was small and very intimate, and it reminded me of the Graslin Theatre in Nantes.
We visited the majestic Osgoode Hall, located at 130 Queen Street West. Today, the heritage building houses the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Divisional Court of the Superior Court of Justice, and the Law Society of Upper Canada.
On Nathan Philips Square, we entered the Toronto City Hall, the home of the municipal government of Toronto—yes, go ahead, crack a Rob Ford joke. Finally, we went to the Old City Hall, at the corner of Queen and Bay Streets, across from Nathan Phillips Square and the new City Hall, now a courthouse.
I love this event as it is the chance to discover buildings not normally open to the public and see behind usually closed doors!
Ever been to a “Doors Open” event in your city?
Waouh, vous avez fait tout ça en un seul week-end ??!
On est resté quatre jours… et oui!
I have never been to a “Doors Open” event in Ottawa. I am not sure if it already passed yet. Will have to check it out.
Yes, it was a couple of weeks ago. Next year, with baby!