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I was at Old City Hall today volunteering for Doors Open and there was a ton of interest from the public about current and future use, and people asking about plans for the rest of the year. For how many times I was asked, I can't imagine how many times people did overall to all the other volunteers. It was shockingly popular and busy, with the line outside wrapping around the building from Bay/Albert east and then down to Queen and along there at some points in the day. Lots of people standing for a very long time in the rain and cold for a chance to get in. A pity the courtyard wasn't part of the experience and there were only two court rooms open for people to check out, but ah well.

I can see certain future uses being very popular with it so close to Nathan Phillips Square.
 
txlseries4 said:
I was at Old City Hall today volunteering for Doors Open and there was a ton of interest from the public about current and future use, and people asking about plans for the rest of the year.
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What was the answer you were giving to people asking this question?

txlseries4 said:
It was shockingly popular and busy, with the line outside wrapping around the building from Bay/Albert east and then down to Queen and along there at some points in the day. Lots of people standing for a very long time in the rain and cold for a chance to get in.
Click to expand...

I didn't really do Doors Open this year but I was surprised to see lineups around the block for a "self tour" of Osgoode Hall. You can go into Osgoode Hall any day of the week. Old City Hall was until recently also open. You can get a "self tour" of the new St. Lawrence Market North courts if you run a red light.

txlseries4 said:
A pity the courtyard wasn't part of the experience and there were only two court rooms open for people to check out, but ah well.
Click to expand...

Did I miss anything exclusive this year?

txlseries4 said:
I can see certain future uses being very popular with it so close to Nathan Phillips Square.
Click to expand...

Aside from what goes on inside Old City Hall, once the construction on the Ontario Line is finished, there's no use re-opening James Street. The outside should be a garden and pedestrian paving leading up to Trinity Square. Maybe the Eaton Centre can open up their James Street stores into this garden.
 
nightstreak said:
I didn't really do Doors Open this year but I was surprised to see lineups around the block for a "self tour" of Osgoode Hall. You can go into Osgoode Hall any day of the week. Old City Hall was until recently also open. You can get a "self tour" of the new St. Lawrence Market North courts if you run a red light.
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lineups were insane this year. I don’t know what happened, but numbers anecdotally seem to have jumped up. I’ve been many times in the past and never seen lines to the point where they’ve had to turn people away. Never more than few dozen to see the TD Centre’s penthouse offices, or the RC Harris Treatment Plant.

This year, the Don Jail had more than a two hour wait on Saturday before they just started turning people around when it hit two hours to closing. Even the Toronto Humane Society had an hour and forty five minute wait.
 
zang said:
lineups were insane this year. I don’t know what happened, but numbers anecdotally seem to have jumped up. I’ve been many times in the past and never seen lines to the point where they’ve had to turn people away. Never more than few dozen to see the TD Centre’s penthouse offices, or the RC Harris Treatment Plant.

This year, the Don Jail had more than a two hour wait on Saturday before they just started turning people around when it hit two hours to closing. Even the Toronto Humane Society had an hour and forty five minute wait.
Click to expand...

Most curious to hear about the long lines............

I didn't do it this year..............

I've been going to Doors Open since the beginning or very close, I've missed the odd year, but probably done over 30 locations over the years.

Of course, I also have had access to many places that open ....through every day life.........

So is gotten to the point where I rarely expect anything new to come up...............I mean to look...........but let it go.

Of course there are people new to the City and tourists.............but that's true almost every year......

I wonder what popped the numbers so much this year.
 
^A direct threat to our sovereignty that makes people want to appreciate the things they have and that which is uniquely ours? At least that's the first thing that came to mind...but it's hard to say though.
 
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Northern Light said:
Most curious to hear about the long lines............

I didn't do it this year..............

I've been going to Doors Open since the beginning or very close, I've missed the odd year, but probably done over 30 locations over the years.

Of course, I also have had access to many places that open ....through every day life.........

So is gotten to the point where I rarely expect anything new to come up...............I mean to look...........but let it go.

Of course there are people new to the City and tourists.............but that's true almost every year......

I wonder what popped the numbers so much this year.
Click to expand...

I too have been going too for years and never saw these lines.

My guess is the airport style security at Municipal Buildings is having an impact on Doors Open. As I said to a friend who works at YQT, airport style security works for a handful of visitors but when you have 1000's of people it is simply not practical.

Years ago, you could just walk into Old City Hall, City Hall or RC Harris without going through metal detectors or enhanced security. The only time I ever saw a line prior to this was for the King Eddy years ago where they had fire code restrictions in the Crystal Ballroom.

I get it.. they need increased security but either hire more security staff to do checks or don't do them at all.

zang said:
lineups were insane this year. I don’t know what happened, but numbers anecdotally seem to have jumped up. I’ve been many times in the past and never seen lines to the point where they’ve had to turn people away. Never more than few dozen to see the TD Centre’s penthouse offices, or the RC Harris Treatment Plant.

This year, the Don Jail had more than a two hour wait on Saturday before they just started turning people around when it hit two hours to closing. Even the Toronto Humane Society had an hour and forty five minute wait.
Click to expand...

I saw the line at Old City Hall and gave up. I waited in line at Osgoode Hall only because the line moved rather quickly.

The line at City Hall proper was an hour, plus when you got inside there was another hour wait to get into the Mayors Office and another hour to get to the observation deck. Years ago, you could just walk into City Hall and the Council Chambers. It was no more than 20 minute wait for the elevator to the observation level.

I am curious how many people actually gave up going to see things because of the lines.
 
I've definitely seen lineups out the door for the TD Centre in past years, as well as huge waits for other marquee sites like RC Harris or the Don Jail. It's not new, though attendance probably took a dip after the pandemic started; perhaps it's just catching up to 2019 levels now.
 
Richard White said:
I too have been going too for years and never saw these lines.

My guess is the airport style security at Municipal Buildings is having an impact on Doors Open. As I said to a friend who works at YQT, airport style security works for a handful of visitors but when you have 1000's of people it is simply not practical.

Years ago, you could just walk into Old City Hall, City Hall or RC Harris without going through metal detectors or enhanced security. The only time I ever saw a line prior to this was for the King Eddy years ago where they had fire code restrictions in the Crystal Ballroom.

I get it.. they need increased security but either hire more security staff to do checks or don't do them at all.

I saw the line at Old City Hall and gave up. I waited in line at Osgoode Hall only because the line moved rather quickly.
Click to expand...
There were massive lines (from the north side entrance to the south side of the building) at Old City Hall, but security wasn't anything special. There was no checking of bags and beyond an inordinate number of security guards posted around, nothing more than a few people saying hello and giving directions when you entered.

It would appear the line in this case was just to keep the building from hitting fire code numbers or making the entire building like the vendor floor at FanExpo.

In fact, the shortest line we stood in with any kind of "airport security" was Queens Park. Albeit that was first thing in the morning, but upon leaving about an hour later there weren't any more than 20-30 people in line.

Richard White said:
I am curious how many people actually gave up going to see things because of the lines.
Click to expand...
We did not have the time to wait for either the Toronto Humane Society or the Don Jail, which is why I mentioned the extremely long lines (1hr, 45 mins and 2 hours, respectively) at both.
 
adHominem said:
I've definitely seen lineups out the door for the TD Centre in past years, as well as huge waits for other marquee sites like RC Harris or the Don Jail. It's not new, though attendance probably took a dip after the pandemic started; perhaps it's just catching up to 2019 levels now.
Click to expand...
The TD Centre has a bottleneck with elevators, to be fair.
 
The folks running the TD Centre Exec Floor access used the tactic of repeatedly saying they couldn't guarantee everyone in line would get access, until enough people gave up and left that they could accommodate everyone. It was a long wait but at least it was sheltered from the rain.
 
I spent 90 minutes in 2 lines to get to the observation deck of City Hall on Sunday, which, while frustrating, was worth it for the view. That being said, when I went to see the TD Centre at just after 1:30 pm, they were already closed for the day due to the line up...even though they were supposed to be open until 4:30/5. Apparently people were lined up since 9 am.
Anyways, I was glad to see a few places, as I've not attended DoorsOpen for years.
 
Crazy idea for OCH re-use #6735a: a free university model? One in Berlin, Scotland etc. Thoughts?
 
So this is likely posted elsewhere but will place here just in case. Can’t wait to have a coffee/pastry in The Courtyard!

www.toronto.ca

Summer at Old City Hall

The wait is over. This summer, Old City Hall reopens to the public for an exciting series of pop-up events and for civil weddings. Uncover unique stories of Toronto every Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. until the end of September, plus select Saturdays, surrounded by sandstone and stained glass...
www.toronto.ca www.toronto.ca
 
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