Heather Wright Photo

OPENING ALL THE DOORS   Lois Nantais of the Lawrence House Centre for the Performing Arts opens the door for Robert Tremain, general manager of cultural services for Lambton County. Lawrence House is one of 44 sites for this weekend’s Open Doors Lambton event. Victoria Hall in Petrolia and the new Camlachie Library and Museum are also on the tour.

Robert Tremain says Lambton County has proven it cares about its history.

The general manager of cultural services, speaking at the kick off to this weekend’s Open Doors Lambton event, said the community has stepped up to preserve important heritage buildings such as Petrolia’s Victoria Hall and Sarnia’s Thom Building which is now the county’s art gallery.

“The community rallied around these projects because we thought and believe in who we are, what we came from and what we can become,” Tremain told about 40 people at the event. “We don’t want to be part of the geography of nowhere, of mega malls and strip malls.”

Tremain says 80 per cent of Ontario’s buildings were constructed after the Second World War, so getting a chance to tour some of the buildings from the last century is a real treat.

This weekend, 44 sites will be open to the public to walk around and explore. Those sites include Victoria Hall, Lancey Hall and the Corey Room at CEE Hospital in Petrolia. Shetland residents will open the doors to Faith Trinity Church which started out as a log cabin in 1835, as will the people of Florence’s St. Matthew’s Church which opened in 1845.

Visitors in the Watford area can also tour Searson’s Sawmill which has been operation since 1875.

The event runs Saturday and Sunday. More information can be found at www.doorsopenlambtoncounty.ca.