Doors are about to open, folks. This weekend, Sept. 26-27, more than 100 often closed-to-the-public Milwaukee spots, from the industrial to the historic to the just plain weird, will open to the public for exclusive tours. Doors Open has become an annual local favorite, letting Milwaukeeans explore some of the city’s most interesting and unexpected places. Here are just a few of the ones our editors are excited to see. For a full list of Doors Open events, click here.
Orlandini Studios
Ever since MilMag contributor Alli Watters wrote about these plaster masters, I’ve wanted to see the family-owned studio myself. Their intricate work adorns the edifices and interiors of many of Milwaukee’s finest buildings, and their sunlit Walker’s Point space is filled with scones and sculptures aplenty. – Evan Musil, Arts & Culture Editor
A cool pocket of Riverwest that many people may not know about houses this three-story building called the Fur Factory. In the 1920s, it was a plant used for the dressing and dyeing of rabbit skins and is now anchored by Home Again Fabric & Furnishings. The shop will be doing upholstery demos in its workroom. – Ann Christenson, Dining Editor
Milwaukee Manhole
Yes, Doors Open is a chance to get inside beautiful or otherwise grand places. But I want to get into weird places, and see the inner workings of what’s usually hidden. And there’s no weirder place than the sewers under our streets. Where does all of … that … go, and how does it get there? I imagine the fellow attendees at this open door will be interesting company. – Chris Drosner, Executive Editor
Celebrate this year’s winners of the Betty Awards!
Art Intersection MKE
This Near West Side outdoor sculpture garden is moving and grooving. Since its founding in 2021 by Derrick Cainion, it’s become a Milwaukee destination, with public art, a greenhouse, pavilion and much more. Evan Musil covered it in our Summer Guide issue last year, and Doors Open presents the perfect opportunity to check it out. – Archer Parquette, Managing Editor
Sure, you’ll get a brewery tour, but this site leans into the history of its Riverwest building, constructed in 1915 and the birthplace of the first electric hand tool and eventually Milwaukee Tool. History is great, but the current occupant of the onetime A.H. Peterson Co. also just happens to be throwing one of its signature events on Saturday. Amorphic’s Czechtoberfest throws a Czech spin on an Oktoberfest celebration, leaning into one of the city’s best brewery’s most interesting niches. Tour the building with one of three Czech-style lagers in hand and linger afterward for Czech food and live music. – Chris Drosner, Executive Editor
Milwaukee Water Works North Point Water Tower
This is one of those local spots I see all the time – and often admire – but never took the time to really learn about. At the turn of the 20th century, the easily recognizable Gothic tower on the East Side was part of the steam system that sent water from Lake Michigan to the distribution system running underneath the city. During Doors Open, you can go inside this eye-catching local landmark. – Archer Parquette, Managing Editor
