![Original stained glass on display at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in Minneapolis. ] LEILA NAVIDI ¥ leila.navidi@startribune.com BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The Scottish Rite Masonic Center in Minneapolis on Friday, April 19, 2019. The center will open it's doors to the public during the Doors Open Minneapolis event May 18 and 19. Doors Open allows the public free, behind-the-scenes access to buildings in Minneapolis that are architecturally, culturally, or socially significant. ORG XMIT: MI](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/XIKURAZ2MC7N3BH6GDKOMVHGXE.jpg?&w=1080)
If you've ever passed an intriguing building in Minneapolis and wished you could take a look inside, now's your chance.
The city is hosting Doors Open Minneapolis this weekend, with free tours at more than 100 wildly diverse places public and private, highlighting history, architecture and curiosities. It's an opportunity to experience the Old World grandeur of the Van Dusen Mansion — or the ultramodern David Salmela-designed corporate home of Izzy's Ice Cream.
Some of the sites are rarely accessible to outsiders, such as the Scottish Rite Masonic Center, a Romanesque Revival edifice originally built as a church, with a 24-foot stained-glass window. Other buildings are offering behind-the-scenes peeks at spaces visitors don't typically see, including Children's Theatre Company.
Most of the buildings are commercial, but some are residential, including the A-Mill Artist Lofts and 430 Oak Grove, a restored 1920s apartment building across from Loring Park that once housed a recording studio used by Prince.
You can see a full list of venues at doorsopenminneapolis.org, as well as download a free bus pass. Doors will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
