Belleville heritage homes opening doors to public

By Renée Rodgers

A number of heritage sites around Belleville will be opening their doors to the public this September.

Eighteen local heritage sites will welcome visitors on September 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for Doors Open Belleville. The program is part of Doors Open Ontario, organized by Ontario Heritage Trust.

Stanley Jones, of Heritage Belleville, informed Belleville city council of the upcoming event during a council meeting August 8. It will be the city’s fourth time participating in the program.

Among the sites, Jones said, will be Greenley’s bookstore, whose basement boasts an ancient bakery. Also, for the first time, Belleville’s water treatment plant will be involved, showing the public what goes on behind the normally closed doors.

“It’s any heritage site,” Jones told council. “They don’t have to be old. Heritage is what makes the community a community, basically.”

Doors Open Belleville is sponsored by Heritage Belleville, The Hastings County Historical Society, The Quinte Branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, The Downtown Belleville Improvement Area and The Belleville and District Chamber of Commerce.

For more information on local sites participating in the program, visit www.doorsopenbelleville.ca or contact Stanley Jones at (613) 849-5931.