I took advantage of Doors Open Toronto to explore the great city that is Toronto. Having just returned from Chicago, and being completely awe-struck by the beauty of their city, I needed to find a method to re-discover my own city. Daily Dose of Imagery does a great job of showing me parts of the city I miss, but I still have a sunken feeling that something about Toronto just doesn’t add up when compared piece by piece to Chicago. So with that on my mind I set out to explore Toronto’s Open Doors in the hopes of finding something I missed.
I had great hopes for Doors Open Toronto but the success of the event has been its own downfall. The sheer volume of people who want to see the select ‘old’ buildings in the core create unmanageable lines. Because of this development the day was spent mostly viewing buildings that are normally open to the public. This is not to say I didn’t enjoy these buildings, in fact the opposite is the complete truth. I would never step foot inside these buildings unless prompted to by an event like this, and most likely because I never knew I could. So if Doors Open Toronto accomplishes anything it accomplishes educating people like myself on the types of buildings are fine city has to offer day in and day out — and that they can rival the private boardrooms and crystal ballrooms of other private elite buildings.
The day consisted of a visit to CIBC’s Commerce Court, a trip down into an old bank vault, a swing by Old City Hall and Current City Hall, then into Osgoode Hall. Some very fine buildings, and immense detail in the design. The city does contain hidden gems that we just don’t get to see in our day-to-day travels, and in that respect Doors Open Toronto achieved its goal of showing me a Toronto I don’t normally see.
See the complete day’s photo’s on my flickr.
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