July 6, 2020
After taking thorough sanitation measures to combat COVID-19, the Florida Museum of Natural History is finally open for business once again.
“We’ve done lots of deep cleaning in the museum — we don’t often have a chance to do that because we are open 352 days a year," Darcie MacMahon, director of exhibits, told Gainesville.com. "We cleaned all the 36,000 mangrove leaves. Our first goal is to keep our guests and our staff safe. So far so good. The museum is a pretty big place and even at 50% capacity we can have quite a few people.”
The reopening of the Museum finally provides locals with something to do outside their homes. Located in the midst of a county that has erred on the side of caution in terms of opening back up, the museum will now provide visitors with a much-needed distraction from the pandemic that has been wreaking havoc on most of the world in the form of entertaining education.
However, the museum will not be opening completely. While most of the exhibits and the gift shop will be available to tourists, certain exhibits — specifically, those with interactive displays — will remain closed until further notice. Instead, museum patrons will have to follow a predetermined path through the building that avoids those interactive exhibits.
In addition, for those who still do not feel safe visiting the building in person, MacMahon pointed out that the museum has been welcoming virtual visitors online. These virtual programs have done well, MacMahon said, and will likely continue to take place in the future.
