The past is almost ready to greet the present.
“We’re just getting ready right now to open back up to the public. We’re going to open up Aug. 16,” said Forrest Patenaude, education supervisor for the Simcoe County Museum in Midhurst.
Museum visitors must pre-book on the museum’s website for groups of up to 10 people, respecting the usual COVID-19 precautions by using masks, keeping a two-metre distance from others and disinfecting hands.
Many but not all of the museum’s features will be available as it takes a slow-and-steady approach to reopening after an extended closure resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The indoor galleries will be available to visitors along with the majority of the outdoor historical buildings.
There will be some public tours available and junior gallery guides have been developed.
“It’s a gallery guide where you walk into the gallery and you can do some fun hands-off stuff, which is totally weird for us because we’ve always prided ourselves with being a very hands-on museum,” Patenaude said with a chuckle. “But with COVID, we really had to switch that around.”
Those activities include spotting the difference and a mystery to determine who let the cows out of the field.
Although activities are limited to start with, Patenaude says it’s just nice to be able to open the museum’s doors again, reunite with colleagues and allow the public back in to explore Simcoe County’s past.
“We’ve been optimistically cautious. We’re going to open up nice and slowly and make sure that everything is safe and just kind of go from there,” he said.
Meanwhile, museum staff is looking at the future with hopes that more of its buildings and activities, like the skating trail through its forested property and Family Day activities, can open this winter.
The past 16 months have also introduced new programs and learning opportunities for museum staff and visitors. Although an in-person Victorian Christmas celebration would be ideal, Patenaude says last year’s virtual version was a real hit.
Visitors were encouraged to log in as museum staff on the grounds each introduced a different aspect, such as how to make maple syrup at the sugar shack and roasting chestnuts over an open fire, in something that turned out to be much like a television show.
“And Santa showed up, it was a big deal,” he said. “If the rules are like that, we would be doing that again, but ideally, it would be nice to have feet on the ground.
"It would be really nice to have people here again.”
For more information on the museum, click here.
