Doors Open Toronto threw its doors wide open – perhaps, a little too wide – leaving many eager Torontonians overwhelmed by long lines and packed venues as they explored the city’s rich cultural and architectural treasures over the weekend.
From May 24 to 25, the free annual tradition opened up an impressive lineup of more than 150 sites in the city to the public, from the Redpath Sugar factory at the waterfront to the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant, deemed as Toronto’s largest water plant.
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As locals came out in droves to get a behind-the-scenes look of the city’s beloved institutions, some were annoyed at the massive crowds and lengthy wait times to get inside certain locations within the seven-hour timeframe per day.
As Torontonians queued for hours and navigated tight schedules between further venues, many are now wondering: is it time to crack those doors open a little longer? According to a Reddit thread, some think so.
“Everything felt a bit too congested to really enjoy anything,” one user wrote on Reddit.
The Don Jail, Old City Hall and the TD Centre Building were a few of the attractions that consistently had hour-long wait times, according to locals.
“Went to Don jail at 10:05am and saw already big line there. Waited for almost 2 hours and entered there,” another user wrote. “It was good, but not sure it was worth waiting 2 hours.”
Another Redditor had a similar experience.
“Admittedly I waited 2 hours to get into the Don Jail but it was the thing I wanted to see most. I thought it was pretty cool though a 2 hour wait for 30 mins of permitted exploration time was a bit wild.”
Other explorers say that the best way to get your foot in the door is to plan ahead of time.
“I’ve learned to choose a popular site and start my day there, as the lines don’t seem to be as bad early on. Then plan other things in the area that maybe aren’t in such high demand,” one user wrote.
Another user online suggested that the institutions should offer more days to have their doors open.
“There is clearly huge appetite to explore Toronto landmarks – the popular sites should consider offering weekly guided tours with admission fee.”
The City of Toronto told Now Toronto in an email statement on Tuesday that there were 155 sites at this year’s event and “the majority had no lineups and reported a steady stream of participants who gained access quickly.”
“As expected, some sites are more popular than others and for those locations we ask the public to arrive early to try and get ahead of crowds,” a spokesperson said.
The city adds that some of the popular sites in Doors Open are open to the public at other times during the year, including the Don Jail which offers guided tours throughout the summer, and Osgoode Hall which is open Monday to Friday from 9-5 p.m.
As for expanding the event, the city says staff have had discussions about it in the past.
“It takes a significant amount of resources (financial commitment and especially staffing at both City-owned and non-City owned participating sites) to host the weekend program and creates some challenges,” the spokesperson said.
