How many people typically visit your museum per day during peak season?
If it is less than the recommended capacity to maintain safe social distancing than you may not need to offer timed ticketing.
How many staff/volunteers are on site during opening hours?
The more staff and volunteers you have on site the more mindful you will have to be about social distancing in the work space. If you do not have enough volunteers or staff to be present in the galleries to en- courage social distancing amongst visitors you may need to employ other strategies like one way traffic flow or very clear signage limiting the number of people who can be in the space at one time.
How many square feet of space is accessible to the public?
This calculation will help you determine your maximum capacity while maintaining 6ft of space for each visitor. Don’t forget to account for exhibits that take up floor space in your galleries and subtract them from your total square footage. Divide the total sq. ft by 113 to get the number of people who can safely be in that space. You can also explore these design models, created by Mackenzie, to plan for adapting your museum environment for the pandemic.
How many high touch points do you have? (ie. door knobs, hand railings, restroom fixtures, etc.)
These will need to be cleaned throughout the day. You might consider placing hand sanitizer near these high touch points.
Do you have hands-on exhibits that cannot be sanitized between each visitor or household group?
If you do not have the capacity to sanitize hands on exhibits between each group of visitor or household group it is recommended that they be temporarily removed from the gallery, closed off, or marked clearly as “do not touch.”
Can you accommodate touchless money transactions at your front desk and/or museum store?
A donation bin might suffice, but if you charge for admission we recommend you consider some of the touchless options listed in this toolkit.
Do you have outdoor space you can utilize for programs allowing greater social distancing?
The science suggests that being outside may reduce the transmission of COVID-19. How can you use your outdoor space in creative ways? Consider hosting outdoor public programs, mindful of the maximum gathering sizes mandated by your county and determined by what reopening phase you are in.
Can your facility accommodate a “one way in/one way out” traffic pattern?
This is one option for encouraging social distancing, but we understand may it not be feasible at your site. Think creatively. You may have to consider giving visitors the ability to move through spaces not typically open to the public, for example exiting through a back door originally used as a staff/volunteer entrance.
If your facility is at maximum capacity for social distancing, where will people wait to enter?
If weather permits, consider having visitors wait outside to enter. You also might place some interpretive signs around your grounds as a way that they can begin experiencing your site before they’ve entered the building. If people are lining up outside the door, mark 6 foot intervals in some way – even just strips of tape on the ground are likely to suffice.
Is your facility small? Are you concerned about having enough space for volunteers, staff, and visitors?
Consider new options for making additional space. For the summer months, maybe a tent or porch can be used to create additional work space. Consider having volunteers work in shifts, with each person sanitizing the work space before the next shift arrives. Look around – are there furnishings or displays that can be removed to create more space temporarily?
