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The first-ever Doors Open Vancouver is supposedly happening Saturday, October 4, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., but I'll be damned if I can ever get their website to load: www.doorsopenvan.ca.
I have been able to gather that these places (among others) will be opened:
National Works Yard engineering operations facility
The Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service Training Centre
City Hall
The False Creek Energy Centre
False Creek Pump Station
VPD Tactical Training Centre
Creekside Community Centre
Hillcrest Community Centre
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
VPL Central Library
The Salt Building
3-1-1 Call Centre
Vancouver Animal Control Centre
There may have been an ad in the Georgia Straight. If anyone else has any more, better information, post it here, please.
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Finally! It's a short list, but long overdue event. Too bad the Art Gallery tour is VIP.
reduxzero - DrainsofmyCity | |
So did you (or anyone else) go into any of these places?
reduxzero - DrainsofmyCity | |
Two highlights for me were the Vancouver Police Tactical Training Centre and Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The TTC's hour-long tour was impossible to sneak away from, but not boring.
The 25-meter firing range.
The 50-meter firing range.
Foam-padded foam-furnished foam room for practicing scenarios.
The Queen Elizabeth Theatre was closing to the public, to my surprise, just when I arrived, so I pretended not to hear that fact and "explored" the dimmest recesses of the auditorium for a few minutes while people were being ushered out. Then I spent 45 minutes crawling all over the place, including a fan room, on stage, in the orchestra pit, back stage, etc.
The rather dingy green room.
Rehearsal room.
I saw a few other buildings too.
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Posted by billgeorge
Then I spent 45 minutes crawling all over the place, including a fan room, on stage, in the orchestra pit, back stage, etc.
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Nice.
Is it bad that the furniture in the Green Room is nicer than what I have in my apartment?
reduxzero - DrainsofmyCity | |
My son and I checked out City Hall, but there was no real 'tour'. Things that were not meant to be accessible were not. We tried the Orpheum but the line went around the block and seemed to be little more than old asian ladies for some reason. No way was I waiting in that line for anything.
I hope future ODV events will be more of a 'behind the scenes' than more of an unpaid entrance to what you could see anyhow. Suggestions for other locations... the PoSt Office building and it's tunnel, the VPL hidden garden (not sure if that was on this ODV or not, I know the VPL was), The Burrard Bridge rooms and stairs, the old WW2 towers at UBC, Vancouver Aquarium behind the scenes...
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I rather enjoyed snooping around City Hall because there were no restrictive tours. I stepped a little outside the boundaries of the official open house (a "Wet Floor" sign in the stairwell was the only thing preventing 99% of people from climbing past the third floor), but you're right, most of what I saw I could have seen any weekday. The mayor's ceremonial chambers might not always be accessible, and I did manage to ride the tiny old back elevator down to the ground. I was especially intrigued by the decommissioned and soon-to-be-demolished East Wing building ...
What's the hidden garden at VPL? I've been out onto the roof from the 8th floor offices ... Didn't make it to the library that day, but I doubt it was anything but a guided tour by an architect through the public spaces. I don't know if it's conscious policy or lack of imagination, but most places seem unwilling to open up their behind-scenes. I hardly expect it from Doors Open, but the event is at least a gesture in the right direction, and sometimes you can sneak away and make your own tour. Let's hope that there are more buildings on offer next year, and that they learn from this year's mistakes.
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