They’ve been closed to the public since mid-March, but beginning this Saturday, Discovery Place said they’ll be reopening all of their museums to the public, including Discovery Place Nature Museum, Discovery Place Science and Discovery Place Kids.
“It’s very lonely in the museums and that is all about to change come this weekend,” said the museum’s President and CEO, Catherine Horne.
Horne said like many businesses, the last six months have been difficult financially, as the museums rely on admissions and memberships for much of their revenue.
“It’s really been a difficult time from a staffing point of view from controlling expenses,” she said, saying that even though the buildings have been closed to the public, employees have been working to feed and for the museum’s more than 500 animals.
“You know they require care 7 days a week and we spend thousands of dollars each and every week to make sure their fed and cared for,” said Horne, adding that the closure has also been hard on the animals.
For instance Herbie the tortoise who missed his visitors very, very much because he socializes with the visitors.
But beginning Saturday, September 19th, doors to the museums are reopening, first to members, then to the public. Horne said they’ve been preparing since June.
“Looking at the CDC guidelines, looking at the work of other science museums around the globe, not just in North America, who have already reopened and looking at their safety procedures and beginning to develop our own,” she said.
Some of their new safety procedures include advance ticket reservations and a single point of entry for visitors. She said masks will be required, and health screenings will be done at the door.
There’s also new signage and markers on the floor and Horne said staff has also all been trained on the new procedures.
Horne also demonstrated for our cameras, a new disinfectant spray she said will be used on areas like the Kid Science area. She said they’ve also removed some exhibits that were high touch or blew air.
Horne said, for now, capacity will be capped at 25-percent, much lower than the 50-percent requirement mandated by the state and the museums will only be open to the public on weekends.
But she said she’s excited to once again be a place where families can learn and discover together, especially during a time when play is needed most.
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