Doors Open

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Doors Open Ontario is a province-wide celebration of community heritage that offers access, enhances awareness, and encourages excitement about our heritage. Doors Open provides residents and visitors alike a unique opportunity to explore and enjoy sometimes hidden and always interesting places within our community - all free of charge.

About Our Heritage

The City of Owen Sound is located on the southwestern shore of Georgian Bay in a valley below the cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment and at the foot of the Bruce Peninsula. Known as the Scenic City, Owen Sound is an outdoor enthusiast’s dream, but also features a thriving historical downtown with elegant, original architecture.

Owen Sound has a rich and unique past – from being the last terminal on the Underground Railroad to being the birthplace of the prohibition movement (it was the last dry city in Canada). Today, Owen Sound remains an area of intrigue and excitement and offers a small but diverse place to raise a family or just visit for a day!

Doors Open Owen Sound welcomes residents and visitors to tour buildings that they might not otherwise have access to. The sites offer a place to discover history, celebrate heritage and explore something new – all free of charge.

About Doors Open Owen Sound 2019

Saturday, June 1 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

From gardens to gables, museums to mansions, Doors Open Owen Sound has given a wide ranging look into our community’s rich heritage since 2003. The theme for 2019 is Communication examining how verbal and written language, the preservation of language, technological innovation, communications systems and cross-cultural exchange have all influenced Ontario’s cultural heritage.

Local artists have partnered this year with local community organizations to put together the Doors Open Exhibit. Artisits will be painting doors donated by the Owen Sound ReStore and displaying them at sites during the event. The doors will showcase local artists and local heritage.

2019 will be the 17th annual Doors Open Owen Sound. Come celebrate with us!

2019 Sites

Check out our new interactive Storymap Application for this year's Doors Open Owen Sound!

Some of our newest sites this year include the Former United States Consulate House, 92.3 The Dock, Rogers TV, Owen Sound Artists' Coop, and the Grey County Administration Building.

Guided tours will be available at First United Church & Wiidosendiwag-Walking Together Tour, Mudtown Station Brewery & Restaurant, and the Owen Sound Police Service station. See all the details & times on our Storymap!

Look for the bright yellow signs on the event day!

Sites are open 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Get Involved!

We are still looking for enthusiastic volunteers who are interested in participating in our community’s rich heritage. Come spend some time immersed in one of our many historic Doors Open sites! Contact us by phone at 519-376-4440 ext. 1256 or by email at sollerton@owensound.ca.

Contact Us

Visit our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest event news and updates!

If you don't use social media:

Call us at 519-376-4440 ext. 1251

or send us an email at heritage@owensound.ca

Photo Contest - 2019

The Photo Contest will be returning to Doors Open Owen Sound this year.

Post a picture from a Doors Open Owen Sound Site on June 1st using the hashtag #DoorsOpenOS to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for a chance to win an Owen Sound experience package!

Don't use social media? You can email your photo to heritage@owensound.ca

Thank you to the following businesses for donating a prize to the Owen Sound Experience Packages:

Harrison Park Inn
Harrison Park Putt n' Paddle
Mudtown Station
Owen Sound Attack
Roxy Theatre
The Workshop Owen Sound: A Centre for the Advancement of Craft

Full Contest Rules

The "Doors Open Owen Sound 2019 Contest" (the"Contest"), operated by Owen Sound Tourism, will run from June 1 at 8:00 AM EST to June 2 at 10:00 PM EST. In order to participate in the "Contest", entrants must fully comply with all the "Contest" rules contained herein (including the terms contained in the release form).
To enter the "Contest", you must:

Post at least one photo taken at a participating Doors Open Owen Sound 2019 site on either one or more of: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram OR via email to heritage@owensound.ca.
Photo must be posted or emailed no earlier than Saturday, June 1, 2019 at 8:00 AM EST and no later than Sunday, June 2, 2019 at 10:00 PM EST.
Social media entries must include the hashtag "#DoorsOpenOS" and email entries must include "#DoorsOpenOS" in the subject line.
Entries posted to social media must be visible to Owen Sound Tourism social media accounts (made public).

There are 3 prizes to be awarded by draw at random from the qualifying entries.
It is the responsibility of the social media account holder to ensure that their privacy settings permit Owen Sound Tourism to view their entry.
Odds of winning depend on the number of entries prior to the Contest Closing Date. Entries will not be accepted by phone, fax, or any other method not specifically stated herein.
Participants under the age of 18 will require parental consent to claim a prize unless otherwise specified.
Owen Sound Tourism shall not be responsible for entries not received or not considered eligible due to incomplete, unclear, indecipherable information, or any other reason whatsoever. Owen Sound Tourism assumes no liability for lost, stolen, delayed, damaged or misdirected entries during the Contest period. Any attempt to deliberately damage or to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest is a violation of criminal and civil laws, and should an attempt be made to do so, Owen Sound Tourism, reserves the right to seek remedies and damages to the fullest extent permitted by law, including criminal prosecution. All entries are subject to verification and will be declared invalid if they are illegible, incomplete, forged, falsified, altered, or tampered with in any way.
A City of Owen Sound employee will attempt to contact the selected Prize Winners within 72 hours of the Contest Closing Date via the social media account or email address used to enter. In order to qualify as a winner, the selected entrants must be reachable in the first 72 hours of the Contest Closing Date and must meet all of the Contest rules. Should a selected entrant be unreachable during this 72 hour time frame, or if they do not meet all of the Contest rules and regulations, Owen Sound Tourism shall select another entrant at random from the remaining eligible entries. A City of Owen Sound employee shall attempt to contact the entrant of any such subsequent draws within 24 hours of such selection and such selection will be otherwise subject to the same conditions as set out in these rules and regulations. The prizes will only be released after the City of Owen Sound employee has confirmed that the eligible winners have complied with all rules and regulations contained herein.
The contest is open to all residents of Canada and the United States. Participants under the age of 19 will require parental consent to claim a prize. Excluded from the contest are all employees, agents and representatives of the Contest organizer (City of Owen Sound) and Contest Sponsors, as well as members of their immediate family (brothers, sisters, children, father, mother), their legal or common law spouse, and anyone domiciled with these employees, representatives and agents.
Owen Sound Tourism respects the municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Information received from all contest entries will remain property of Owen Sound Tourism, and will be used in accordance with the Privacy Legislation of the Government of Canada.
Owen Sound Tourism will not share personal information from contestants with any other party, unless the contestant requests to be contacted by a contest. For more information, contact Owen Sound Tourism at 519-371-9833. Photos posted to social media will be shared by Owen Sound Tourism.
By entering the Contest, all entrants consent to the use of their names, city of residence, photograph, voice and/or image for any publicity and programming purposes, commercial or otherwise, in all media used by Owen Sound Tourism and the Contest Sponsors and their respective advertising and promotional agencies, without payment or compensation, throughout the world in perpetuity. The use of information from entries of contestants under the age of 18 will not be used for publicity, programming purposes - commercial or otherwise - in any media used by Owen Sound Tourism or the Contest Sponsors and their respective advertising and promotional agencies unless specific parental consent is given. Social media posts will be shared by Owen Sound Tourism.
Further, by entering the Contest, each entrant accepts these Contest rules and regulations, which are subject to change without notice to Contest entrants individually and which changes shall be posted only at www.owensoundtourism.ca/doorsopen. By entering the Contest, each entrant releases Owen Sound Tourism and all of their divisions and the Contest Sponsors and any other person or entity associated in any way with the Contest, their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, directors, officers, employees, agents and their respective advertising and promotional agencies from any and all liability arising in connection with the Contest, including without limitation, the selection of the eligible winner and the administration of the Contest.
Owen Sound Tourism and Contest Sponsors reserve the right to substitute, terminate, withdraw, suspend or cancel any portion of the Contest and/or component of the Prize at any time, without notice, for any reason whatsoever in their sole discretion. The Prizes are non-transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash or other substitutes, except where stated. If Owen Sound Tourism and any Contest sponsor decide to substitute a prize, or a portion of a prize, they will do so for a prize of approximately the same value. No telephone contact will be entered into except with the eligible winners.
The Contest is void where prohibited by law and is subject to all Federal, Provincial and Municipal laws and regulations.
The Contest and the terms and conditions contained in these rules shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. You, the Contest entrant, agree that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to the Contest and these terms and conditions shall be filed only in the provincial or federal courts located in Toronto, Ontario, and you hereby consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of litigating any such action.

Thank you to the following community-minded businesses for generously sponsoring Doors Open Owen Sound 2019:
Barry's Construction Ltd., G.M. Diemert Architect Inc., MHBC Planning, and Sprucedale Agromart.

G.M. Diemert Architect Inc. logo

MHBC Planning logo Agromart Logo