The Hub August 2015 | Página 8

Angelica Haggert Here at The Hub, we push you every month to get out there and explore - take a close-to-home adventure and experience what the two hour radius around us has to offer. This month, we’d like to you to venture a little further from home. Doors Open Ontario has a long history, with the concept dating back to France before I was born. The idea came to North America, specifically Toronto, in 2000. The program allows for “open doors” to historical buildings, architectural marvels, and important structures, with free tours offered to build awareness and pride in community locales. Windsor participated in 2014, but is taking 2015 off to make their 2016 event the best yet. Amherstburg will host a Doors Open event September 26 and 27, but you can find other events happening all summer long all across Ontario. The 2014 Windsor event saw six thousand visitors come through 31 different open doors in just one weekend. Have you ever been to the Blackburn Radio station? It was formerly the home of the Walkerville Utilities Building. Not only would seeing behind the scenes at a working radio station be a unique opportunity, the history of that building itself is fascinating. The Capitol Theatre downtown has been a Windsor gem for years, but usually requires tickets to a show or the symphony to get through the doors. These, along with places like the St. Clair College Mediaplex and its interesting architectural style, are some of the things you could have experienced during Doors Open Windsor 2014. In Amherstburg, the event opens the Mark your calendar! Doors Open Amherstburg takes place September 26 & 27 Click here for details! doors of the Park House Museum, the Wyandotte Indian Cemetery, and the Bois Blanc Island Lighthouse and Blockhouse, among other heritage sites. Doors Open Ontario helps boost tourism all year long, in turn helping the economy. According to Doors Open Ontario’s chairman Thomas Symons (www.doorsopenontario.on.ca), almost $50 million has been invested in Ontario communities from this program. Doors Open Ontario participants are scattered across the province, from Stratford to Kingston, St. Thomas to Muskoka, and everywhere in between. If you’re adventuring across Ontario this summer or autumn, take a look at the list to see if you can benefit from a stop in one of these cities - save a few dollars while exploring some of the historical locations and unique architecture our province has to offer. Where are you exploring this summer? Tell us abou Ё