The TL;DR: Doors Open Waterloo Region is on tomorrow (Saturday, Sept 17) and you should check out some of the 48 locations around WR that are opening their doors for you. This time around 19 sites represent the 2016 theme “Into Science + Tech”. Visits are free-no-pay and run 10am to 5pm. Here’s how it works: you look at the map, go to the location, take a tour, repeat.
I had a chance to check out one of the locations in advance, so hopefully this photo set will get your feet on the street, because after all, that is the key. Silvia Di Donato and Emily Robson with Arts & Culture at the City of Kitchener made it possible to get inside the old Legion hall at 48 Ontario Street downtown.
48 Ontario between King and Duke. The city owns this building. Silvia and Emily are interested to get some community input on an arts centre and this vacant building is a good conversation starter. I suspect that you’ll find more info around that on-location tomorrow.
I’ve gotta give a shout to my good friends who work hard on Doors Open for you. Karl Kessler and Jane Snyder have been doing this for a long time and the work stretches around the calendar. While these two are typically happier to be behind the camera (or nowhere near a camera), I’ll suffer some gentle chastising to once again point out that nothing here happens by magic: there are always people doing the legwork, making the phone calls, sourcing volunteers, promoting the event and a whole lot more. Thank you.
Click through for more pics…
Our tour guides: Silvia and Emily.
The tour groups were necessarily very small due to some fire regulations.
Love these old buildings.
My friend and artist Nicholas Rees coincidentally was on the same tour. He founded the Kitchener Industrial Artifacts Project in 1996 and you’ve surely seen those giant manufacturing tools on the Iron Horse Trail and downtown.
Gordon Hatt from CAFKA came by and we were ready to go.
From the stage.
My fave thing about urban exploration: wall writing. Evidence of human life.
Downstairs.
I believe this writing is from a site-specific performance by Andy Houston and company.
Paneling!
Funky ceiling in the bar.
First tour I talked more than I shot. So I jumped in with the next group for a second round.
You can never have too many photos of radiators.
Everything is a mystery.
Fan boy.
‘60’s era.
Remember: 48 sites for Doors Open.
On Ontario Street, this is Waterloo Region.
DW