LONDON (UK) – Staff at the Natural History Museum are busy dusting off thousands of exhibits, including the blue whale above its central hall and the iconic the dinosaur skeletons, as the institution prepares to welcome visitors next month after it was closed in March following the outbreak of the virus.
According to Museum Director Michael Dixon, its staff had made the institution safe for the limited number of visitors owing to social distancing norms. Normally, the museum is visited by 5 million people every year.
“We want to the museum to look at its fabulous best – this great cathedral to nature,” he said.
“As you can see behind me, Hope the whale is getting her annual dusting, we have brought that forward this year, and she will look her magnificent best on the fifth of August when we re-open to the public.”
Based in South Kensington since 1881, the museum was closed on March 17, six days before Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the lockdown.
The closure affected the resources of the museum as donations shrivelled and events were cancelled, said Dixon.
He said the institution would receive assistance from the government’s 1.57 billion pound ($2 billion) package for the cultural sector. But it would not be enough to sustain the museum unless the number of visitors is increased above the 20% capacity allowed.
“When people visit the museum over the next few months they are going to get a fantastic VIP experience because they will be able to see things without so many people around them, and I think that will be a wonderful experience for many, many people,” Dixon said.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field