Natural History Museum prepares exhibits for reopening
The museum will be running at around 15% capacity.
Conservation work is under way at the Natural History Museum on exhibits including its blue whale skeleton ahead of the venue’s reopening.
The London museum is set to welcome back visitors on August 5 following months of closure.
Staff at the museum have been preparing by cleaning skeletons and displays and laying out signs explaining new social distancing measures.
Staff have been cleaning the 25.2 metre-long blue whale skeleton named Hope, which is suspended in the entrance to the museum.
They are also analysing the condition of the other objects on display.
“We write a report, like a medical report, on how they are doing, any cracks or anything else we need to deal with,” said Ms Cornish.
Clare Matterson, the Natural History Museum’s executive director of engagement, said visitors will have a “really different” experience to the one they may have had before the lockdown because of a decrease in visitor numbers.
The venue’s capacity will be reduced to around 15% of what it was previously.
“In this wonderful, airy cathedral of nature you will have a very special experience.”
She said the vast size of the museum means implementing social distancing measures will be relatively easy.
“All of us, we are still having to open up, get our shops going, get our cafe going and we are then just going to hope that we can stay open and keep going for the future,” she said.
Venues such as the Tate galleries and The National Gallery have already welcomed back visitors.
