Elgin residents and architecture buffs will have a chance to peek inside more than 25 buildings Saturday during the Open Elgin tour.
By obtaining a map and guide online at www.openelgin.com or at the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce’s downtown office, participants can select what buildings they’d like to see on their own timetable, said Denise Raleigh, co-chair of the Enhancing Elgin Committee of the chamber’s Elgin Development Group.
The self-guided tours are free and all buildings open between 1 and 4 p.m.
“I love to see people’s amazed eyes when they step through a door, discover a one-of-a-kind building and hear its story,” said Raleigh, who’s also spokeswoman for the Gail Borden Public Library. “It is so cool to introduce people to friendly Elginites and this community.”
The Open Elgin website provides detailed information about each location on the tour, which spotlights a wide array of buildings dating from the 1800s to modern day and includes libraries, schools, museums, civic buildings, businesses, a funeral home, an armory, a planetarium and places of worship.
Among them is the Senior Services Associates building at 101-103 S. Grove Ave. — an art deco-style building that served as the Citadel for the Salvation Army from 1930 to 1972. To entice the kids, there’s a scale model available that can be downloaded to make at home.
Chamber President/CEO Carol Gieske said it’s fun to see inside buildings you’ve only viewed from the outside.
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“I really enjoy the Church of the Brethren headquarters tour,” she said. “With the building at 1451 Dundee Ave. visible from the interstate, thousands of people pass by it daily. It is a real gem few people have gotten to see.”
New to the tour this year is the Volsch Bros. building at 111 Douglas Ave., now home to the Inspire Realty Group.
According to the Open Elgin website, Albert Volsch and his brother, Julius, opened their downtown butcher shop in the 1880s. A fading sign for the old meat market can still be seen on the the building’s brick exterior, the site notes.
Inspire Realty owner Chris Davis said visitors will get to see the 19th century stylings of the building as well as improvements made during the 2020 remodel.
On the day of the event, each participating building will have a red Open Elgin flag at its entrance to identify it as a tour stop. Volunteers will be stationed at each to answer questions.
Visitors also can follow along virtually on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter by searching #OpenElgin to see photos of the behind-the-scenes tour.
Gieske said Open Elgin debuted in 2017 and was held again in 2018 and 2019 before being waylaid by the COVID-19 pandemic for three years.
“We started organizing last spring when COVID was waning but felt compelled to postpone again (in 2022 as a precaution),” she said.
She hopes the event will pick up where it left off in terms of drawing visitors, she said.
“We initially had about 400 people attend the first year and continued to grow to 800 people visiting from more than 50 different zip codes in 2019,” Gieske said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.