By Kate Bartlett
Saturday, September 30 marks the 4th annual Doors Open Buffalo. This free, family friendly event encourages the exploration of buildings and historic landmarks in and around the Queen City of Buffalo. The vision of Doors Open, and Explore Buffalo, is to connect more people with Buffalo’s history and architecture by providing unique access that is not available at other times of the year.
Historically, visitors have been granted access to iconic landmarks including City Hall, Seneca One, Shea’s Theatre, and the Electric Tower to name a few. Last year, Doors Open invited guests to explore the neighborhood of the Broadway Fillmore District. This year, the event returns to downtown buffalo with free access to landmarks and historic sites. “Our hope is to rotate between featuring neighborhoods and Downtown Buffalo in order to showcase all off Buffalo,” says Brad Hahn, Executive Director of Explore Buffalo. “The surrounding areas have so many hidden gems that people might not know about, and we hope to help them explore all areas of our great city.”
This year, Explore Buffalo has organized suggested trails for convenience and interest purposes. These routes were designed to help visitors maximize their time and to help their day flow. “We designed these routes in order to help people plan their day. It can be overwhelming to choose between the 27 sites, so we hope this makes it a bit easier. They are merely suggestions, and not required routes. Anyone can visit anywhere at any point during Doors Open from 10am-4pm.”
Suggested routes include the family friendly trail, classic Buffalo Trail, House of Worship Trial and What’s New Downtown Trail. Several buildings will have hands-on activities including the Central Library and the old-fashioned printing press at the WNY Book Arts Center. The Ellicott Square Building will have a family friendly scavenger hunt and WUFO Black Radio Collective will offer the opportunity to step inside their radio booths.
For the first time this year, the Lafayette Court Building will be open to the public, offering a glimpse inside their renovated M&T Tech Center. The Convention Center will unveil its new façade that has been under construction, and serves as the main hub for this event. Visitors can start at any participating building, but first timer and those with questions are encouraged to begin at the Convention Center, as it will be well staffed with volunteers ready to assist. Maps are available online and at each participating location.
All buildings will be staffed with docents to answer questions, but tours are mostly self-guided with the exception of two. The Nash Building will offer hourly guided tours (timed tickets required, available online), and the Central Library will offer hourly 30-minute guided tours including behind the scenes access as well as their current exhibits.
Several restaurants will be open outside of normal business hours to accommodate visitors. “It’s a great opportunity to check out a new restaurant in our great city. Most are looking forward to the event almost as much as the participants,” says Brad.
“We couldn’t do this without the support of the community and participating buildings. We’re excited to be showcasing downtown Buffalo again and look forward to hosting return visitors and first-timers to this great event. It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn about our great city of Buffalo, it’s rich history and impressive architecture.”
For more information visit https://explorebuffalo.org/doorsopenbuffalo/. While the event is free and pre-registration is encouraged, guests can also register the day of the event at any location Saturday, September 30, from 10-4pm. Come explore Buffalo, and deepen your appreciation for this great city. Also follow Explore Buffalo and watch for upcoming events throughout the year as they offer a wide variety of tours year-round in Buffalo and its surrounding suburbs.