Doors Open offers unique look at Saskatoon’s iconic buildings

WATCH: Doors are opening in Saskatoon as a unique program is allowing a behind-the-scenes look at some iconic Saskatoon buildings.

There’s a unique program in Saskatoon that provides a one-day opportunity to get behind the scenes of some iconic Saskatoon buildings, offering a chance to see the city’s history and culture in a new way.

The Doors Open project started in 2005 and offers a glimpse into interesting buildings of Saskatoon in an up-close and personal way.

“It gives us an opportunity to have people who’ve never been here before come and experience the history that’s here. It’s also great to invite people back,” Della Marshall, Marr Residence board chair, told CTV News.

The Marr Residence, Saskatoon’s oldest house, which still sits on its original site in the Nutana area, is one of the stops for Sunday’s Doors Open tour. It was built in 1884 and served as a field hospital during the Riel resistance. It was also the first time in Canada that the Red Cross was enlisted for help.

Marshall sees many newcomers during the Doors Open events.

“It’s a good place for them to get some easy education into what it was like to be in Canada 140 years ago,” she said.

The doors of buildings like the Drinkle Building downtown and St. John’s Cathedral will be open from 12 until 5 p.m., with tours taking place during that time.

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At the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) observatory, which is almost 100 years old, visitors can see the astronomy centre in a new way during Doors Open.

“The wealth of the architecture allows you to look back in time a hundred years ago. This is the way they built things. This is how architects saw this. You can see the lines still and how they focus on things like symmetry. It’s stuff we wouldn’t ideally discuss on a Saturday night here at the observatory,” Osebi Daudu with the observatory said.

While they do discuss the telescopes and science during Doors Open at the observatory, it’s also an opportunity to look at the historical campus building itself.

It’s complete with original windows and a chalkboard still used today.

“For us, this is about preserving the wealth of history. This is something that the University alone didn’t fund, but the public did build through several contributions from 1925 to 1928,” he said.

There are 25 buildings on the list for Sunday, including the Little Stone Schoolhouse on the U of S campus, the Francis Morrison Library, Drinkle Building, the City Archives Building, which was formerly the main post office, as well as Broadway and Riversdale neighbourhoods.

The observatory is expecting about 1,000 people to come out on Sunday, while the entire event is projecting about 5,000 visitors through the doors across the city.

The Doors Open idea started in 1990 in Scotland.