Royal Ontario Museum celebrates 110-year anniversary with free admission all weekend

Admission to the Royal Ontario Museum is free this weekend as one of the province's most renowned cultural and educational institutions celebrates its 110th anniversary.

Doors will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

While tickets aren't necessary, the museum says there may be wait times for entry due to the number of expected visitors and building capacity limits.

"What you can expect is to really enjoy the ROM, every bit of it, including our special exhibitions," said Kelly Harper, the ROM's vice-president of visitor experience.

"We want to make sure that when you come in, you have a great experience."

Those special exhibitions include Death: Life's Greatest Mystery, which explores the death rites and ceremonies of various cultures, and Wildlife Photographer of the Year, featuring a hundred of the best images from the annual international competition.

Visitors will also be able to view a skeleton of an ankylosaur called Zuul crurivastator, a horned and armoured dinosaur with a sledgehammer-like tail, which be on display until Sunday.

Stoney Creek residents Dave and Jessica Worsnop said they both remember visiting the museum on school trips when they were kids. This week, they brought their toddler first time.

"I think it's nice to have it free," Jessica Worsnop said. "Maybe it'll make people who weren't planning to come to come out."

Lorianne Woldehann, visiting Toronto from Florida this week, said she brought her family to the museum to learn more about Ontario.

"I think it's incredibly important for us to revisit our past," she said. "So we don't go backwards, but also it allows us to learn more from ourselves."

The Ontario Legislature created the Royal Ontario Museum in 1912 with the signing of the ROM Act, according to the museum's website.

It officially opened its doors on March 19, 1914, in a newly-constructed building that today is the museum's west wing. 

Originally, the museum comprised five different museums affiliated with the University of Toronto, but they were amalgamated into one in 1955 and separated from the university in 1968.