Sarnia-Lambton heritage homes, buildings and other cultural sites will open to the public Sept. 28 as Doors Open Lambton returns.
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Thirty-three sites across all 11 county municipalities will be part of the free event, running 10 am to 4 pm, organized as part of Lambton County’s 175th anniversary celebrations.
Doors Open, a tradition which began in Europe, made its North American debut in Toronto in 2000. Lambton held its first event in 2012, repeating it every two years until it went on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Some of these sites are kind of special places across Lambton County that maybe don’t normally have public access,” said Jessica Stevenson, marketing and events co-ordinator with Lambton County museums and archives. “It’s a chance for visitors to see a side of Lambton County history that they may not otherwise see,”
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Those sites include Walnut Acres Farms in Brooke-Alvinston, Nemo Hall and the McCort House in Petrolia, and the Dan and Shelley Caron School House in St. Clair Township.
“All of our site owners are very excited,” Stevenson said. “They’re delighted to be able to share this history with Lambton County.”
Several cultural sites will offer a look “behind the scenes,” including the vault holding the permanent art collection at the Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery in Sarnia, normally closed public collections areas at the Lambton Heritage Museum, Oil Museum of Canada and county archives , Stevenson said.
Sarnia sites include the Faethorne House, built about 1875 and home to the Bright’s Grove Library and Gallery in the Grove, St. Joseph church and Lakeview Cemetery.
Sites outside Sarnia include the Kineto Theater in Forest, the Sydenham Antique Club in Florence, the Forest Glen Herb Farm in Lambton Shores and the old post office in Petrolia.
A full list of the 33 sites, along with a guide and map, can be found at doorsopenlambtoncounty.ca.
Doors Open events in Lambton County have been well attended in past years with “all kinds of visitors,” from families to “history buffs” and “people who are just curious to see the inside of a building they’ve wandered past before,” Stevenson said.
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