The doors to more than 100 Milwaukee buildings will be open free of charge this weekend as the nonprofit group Historic Milwaukee hosts the third annual Doors Open Milwaukee event.
Visitors can look at a variety of buildings -- from churches to office buildings, theaters to work sites, museums to hotels, clubs to universities. All the sites are of historic, architectural, cultural, or commercial interest and will be open for exploration.
Event founder, George Wagner said that it's an event not to be missed and is growing in popularity each year. The first year of Doors Open Milwaukee, the event drew about 8,000 people.
“Last year, the event grew to about 15,000 visitors with 75,000 individual building visits. So, it seems to be an event that continues to grow and we hope that it will,” said Wagner.
Milwaukee historian John Gurda said one of the city’s treasures include a Frank Lloyd Wright home model at Layton Boulevard, around 27th Street and Burnam. According to Gurda, the entire block of single-family homes and duplexes on the north side of the street were designed by Wright.
“It was Wright’s attempt to put his designs within reach of the average person, not just his wealthy clients,” said Gurda. “The Wright Foundation purchased one of the single-family homes five years ago, restored it completely. Part of that was student-led research and work, and It’s a wonderful resurrection of a unique style,” said Gurda.
According to Doors Open Milwaukee organizers, the event has two major components: 1) Design your own itinerary to visit to the buildings that will open their doors (often with guided tours, no tickets necessary); 2) Join one or more of more than 40 in-depth tours that are ticketed. For more information, find details under the “Event Guide – In-Depth Tours” section of their website.
