DAYTON — Downtown’s historic Arcade will be open to the public today, June 5 – including rarely open upper floors – as part of the Jewels of the Gem City Tour.

The event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. also features tours of two other downtown landmarks, the Dayton Woman’s Club and YWCA Dayton.

Tour tickets cost $15 and may be purchased at all three locations. Proceeds benefit Friends of the Dayton Arcade, the Dayton Woman’s Club Foundation and YWCA Dayton, all not-for-profit organizations.

“It is our effort to keep things alive. On we go,” said Joanne Granzow, a founding member of Friends of the Dayton Arcade.

•The Arcade, on West Third Street across from Courthouse Square, was built in 1902. The series of five connecting buildings is known for its glass rotunda, 70 feet high by 90 feet in diameter.

While the street level of the arcade has been open for tours during several Dayton Urban Nights events, the upper floors will be open to the public today for the first time in many years. Be prepared to walk up steps.

Granzow said the new owner, Gunther Berg, will be there to talk about the Arcade. The event also features unique silent auction items, including a German dinner for six prepared by Berg and his wife Ina, natives of Germany.

•The Women’s Club, 225 N. Ludlow St., was built in 1840s by Robert Steele, a 30-year Dayton school board member.

The Dayton Woman’s Club was founded in 1916, serving as headquarters for the city’s most progressive women, including founder Julia Patterson Crane, sister of John H. Patterson.

•The YWCA Dayton, 141 W. Third Street, was built in 1913 and survived flooding that year. The tour will focus on a mural of a Dayton streetscape in the building’s auditorium that spans an entire wall.

The YWCA, which has served the Dayton community for 140 years, has been the only tenant in that building.