White Rock Museum and Archives is once again open to the public.
The museum, located in the historic 1913 Great Northern station on Marine Drive, had a soft reopening of its main galleries on Oct. 13, following implementation of a new regime of health and safety procedures.
First pandemic-era show is the museum’s annual Remembrance Day exhibit, Lest We Forget: White Rock During The War Years, presenting photographs, objects and stories highlighting not only the participation of White Rock residents in the First and Second World War, but also the impact of the wars on the community.
“Our vision is to be a great small museum, valued by White Rock’s residents, and appreciated by every visitor,” curator Charlene Garvey said in a media release.
The museum has been closed to the public since city facilities were shut down in March, in response to the COVID-19 state of emergency.
To ensure safety of staff, volunteers and visitors, Garvey said, the museum has adopted policies based on guidelines from WorkSafe BC and Phase 2 of the provincial Go-Forward strategy, approved by the City of White Rock.
Hours have been changed, until further notice, to noon to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, with admission by donation.
Maximum capacity, at any one time, has been set at three visitors in the gift shop area and eight in the museum galleries.
Wearing masks, while not mandatory for visitors, will be encouraged, and all frontline staff will be masked, Garvey said.
In the gift shop, signage and ground markers will encourage two-metre social distancing, and a hand-sanitizer station will be at the entrance.
Hands-on interactive displays have been removed from exhibits and the children’s gallery – designed to be a high-touch environment in pre-pandemic times – has been closed indefinitely, Garvey noted.
