Doors Open Waterloo Region returns to in-person event

August 01, 2025

Waterloo Region – For the first time since 2019, the Region of Waterloo’s annual Doors Open will be an in-person event on Saturday, Sept. 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Whether you’re a history buff or an architecture enthusiast, Doors Open offers a rare opportunity to access fascinating local buildings, not often open to the public.

Now in its 21st year, Doors Open Waterloo Region is part of Doors Open Ontario, a province-wide event that serves to celebrate community heritage and architecture.

Following pandemic closures, the Region’s event went digital in 2020, producing 33 episodes.

For its live return, the program showcases 20 participating sites throughout the Region’s cities and townships, offering exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to some of the community’s most interesting and elusive sites.

This year’s program boasts iconic churches, a research lab, locomotives, libraries, an art studio and spaces that have been adapted and transformed. There’s rural 1800s community spaces and sleek new urban builds, a TV studio, and a warehouse where a local engineer (and global personality) turns fictional concepts from films, comic books and videogames into reality.

This year’s participating sites are:

  • Waterloo Pioneers Memorial Tower (Kitchener)
  • Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA) (Waterloo)
  • Waterloo Central Railway Restoration & Maintenance Facility (Woolwich)
  • John MacDonald Architect offices (in the former Kitchener Public Utilities Commission Building) (Kitchener)
  • Old Post Office location of Idea Exchange (Cambridge)
  • Hespeler Location of Idea Exchange (Cambridge)
  • Globe Studios (in the former Bonnie Stuart Shoe factory) (Kitchener)
  • St. Andrews Hespeler Presbyterian Church (Cambridge)
  • Waterloo County Gaol Garden (Kitchener)
  • St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church (Waterloo)
  • Detweiler Meetinghouse & Roseville Cemetery (North Dumfries)
  • Schnurr's Store and Town Hall (Wellesley)
  • Reep House for Sustainable Living (Kitchener)
  • Central Presbyterian Church (Cambridge)
  • Rogers TV Channel 20 Studio (Kitchener)
  • Hacksmith Industries (Cambridge)
  • Waterloo Public Library - Eastside Branch (Waterloo)
  • Township of Wellesley Council Chambers (Wellesley)
  • Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI Campus) (Waterloo)
  • Seagram Cultural Heritage Landscape Tour (Waterloo)

For more event information, please visit: regionofwaterloo.ca/doorsopen

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