The doors to 20 of Vancouver's most high-profile and hard-working buildings will be flung open for the public on Saturday, Oct. 4 for the inaugural Doors Open Vancouver city tour.
The free, one-day event is an opportunity for the public to learn about civic services while experiencing Vancouver's architectural, design, engineering and cultural heritage.
Guided access will be provided between 10am and 5pm to venues centred around three walkable clusters: Downtown, city hall, and the False Creek Flats.
"We're going to throw open the doors to many civic facilities that you don't normally get to see as the general public," said deputy city manager Sadhu Johnston, speaking to the press at the False Creek Energy Centre on Monday. "You'll get a sense of what we do at those facilities, how they operate, and talk to some of the people at those facilities."
Highlights include behind-the-scenes tours of City Hall, the Vancouver Police Department Mounted Unit, the Vancouver Parks Board office, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services Training Centre, and Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
"We know people aren't going to get to see them all," said Johnston, "so we really encourage people to visit the website and pick which neighbourhood they want to be in, and come pick a few of those buildings they want to check out."
Advance registration is also required in some cases.
Already popular in cities like New York, London, and Toronto, Doors Open Vancouver was a quick start action identified by the City of Vancouver's Engaged City Task Force, and was organized in partnership with Urbanarium, Tourism Vancouver, Vancouver Heritage Foundation, Vancouver Public Space network, Cascadia Green Building Council, and more than 200 trained volunteers.
Johnston added that, with the municipal election coming up on Nov. 15, he hopes the event will connect residents with some of the more interesting work the city does.
"A lot of people don't know, 'What does the province do?' versus 'What does the city do?' and 'How does the city work?'" said Johnston. "And so, with the upcoming election, it's a great chance to fling open our doors and let people come into our facilities and learn about what the city does on a day-to-day basis."
The full list of participating buildings is at DoorsOpenVan.ca.
