Gairloch Museum ahead of the game with reopening as coronavirus restrictions are eased
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AN acclaimed Wester Ross museum which staged its official opening a year ago was going through a similar process this week under very different circumstances.
Gairloch Museum managed to be amongst the first in the country to re-open in line with coronavirus guidelines after its first year in a converted Cold War bunker was rudely interrupted by the lockdown.
Curator Karen Buchanan and team pulled out all the stops to get back up and running after a three-week preparation carrying out risk assessments and working out a system for safe access.
In a blog post explaining the process, she said: " Almost exactly one year ago, staff and volunteers at Gairloch Museum were putting the final touches to their new museum before its official opening. Scroll forward a year and the picture is a similar one. After a very successful first nine months, during which it welcomed more than 10,000 visitors, the museum was forced to close for almost four months due to coronavirus. Staff were furloughed and only returned to work at the beginning of July, after the Scottish Government announced its accelerated timetable for restarting tourism. Since then it has been all hands on deck to get the museum open."
She headed a task force which includes front of house staff and volunteers with responsibility for retail and maintenance for reopening. A risk assessment identified that the museum could reopen subject to some changes, the majority centred on the areas of ticketing and cleaning.
It was also necessary to review display areas taking into consideration the risk of spreading Covid-19 through touch.
The museum has installed a one-way system, installed wall-mounted hand sanitisers and asked visitors to pre-book to guarantee entry.
It is now open Wednesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm.
To book email office@gairlochmuseum.org or call 01445 712287. To find out what to expect, see here.
It has also produced a film showing visitors what to expect.
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