City Hall ready to offer safe guided tours

Kingston’s City Hall, a working National Historic Site, is reopening for guided tours, the City of Kingston said in a statement released Thursdays, Aug. 6, 2020.

Beginning Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020, people interested in taking a guided tour are asked to line up at the base of the stairs leading up the front entrance of City Hall at 216 Ontario St. For guests requiring accessible entry, the Market Street entrance is available as well.

“We are excited to be able to offer the history of City Hall once again this year and proud to share its stories with our residents and visitors,” says Jennifer Campbell, manager, cultural heritage. “These free tours offer a unique perspective on City Hall and share an important part of Kingston’s heritage with visitors and residents.”

Information provided by the City for tour participants:

• Tour guides will escort groups of 6 people through a 30 minutes tour of City Hall on a first come first served basis.
• Masks are required and visitors will be asked to answer COVID-19 related screening questions, provide contact information for every member of their tour party and to sanitize their hands.
• For health and safety reasons some areas of City Hall will remain closed to the public this tour season.

Tours run on Saturdays throughout August from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Highlights include the site’s unique architectural details, the continued use of the site as a public building and seat of government, the stained glass windows within Memorial Hall, Council Chambers, community history exhibits on display in the architectural niches and an installation highlighting the most recent recipients of the Mayors Arts Awards.

Don’t feel like lining up for your turn? Take a virtual tour of City Hall here: http://liberty360.ca/Kingston/CityHall/text.html

For more information about City Hall tours and the safety measures that are in place please visit www.CityofKingston.ca/CityHallTours.