COVID-19 Sample Reopening Plan: Everhart Museum, Scranton, PA Submitted By: Aurore Giguet, Executive Director

The document provides a sample COVID-19 reopening plan submitted by the Everhart Museum in Scranton, PA. The 5 stage plan outlines actions for cleaning procedures, staff safety, visitor security and health, financial impacts, and adjusting programs and events. The stages include conducting surveys, safety reviews, limiting hours and capacity, and gradually increasing operations based on guidance from health officials.

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COVID-19 Sample Reopening Plan: Everhart Museum, Scranton, PA Submitted By: Aurore Giguet, Executive Director

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COVID-19 Sample Reopening Plan

Everhart Museum, Scranton, PA

Submitted by: Aurore Giguet, Executive Director
May 2020

To help museums share thinking as they navigate the challenges and uncertainties of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the Alliance is compiling examples of reopening plans from individual
institutions. These plans are specific to each museum’s circumstances and are not meant to be
definitive guidance for developing your own. Instead, they provide reference for what other
museums are considering as they chart a course toward safely reopening. Check the Alliance’s
reopening guide frequently for updates, as we will be adding new examples as we receive them.
If you have a plan or perspective on reopening you’d be interested in sharing with the broader
museum field, please contact [email protected].

Disclaimer: This sample document serves as an example of how one museum addresses a
particular issue. Museums should compose original materials based on their unique
circumstances. Any document produced by the recipient should not substantially use the
contents of this sample as the basis. Materials are provided "as is," without any guarantee or
warranty of any kind, expressed or implied. Information shared here is not intended to supersede
guidance from public health officials, medical experts, and federal/state/local governments.
Museums are encouraged to seek legal and other expert advice on their specific circumstances.

Support Free COVID-19 Resources for the Museum Field

AAM maintains an online collection of more than 1,000 sample policies, plans, and forms
from museums of all types and sizes through the Alliance’s sample document library.
Access is a benefit to staff of Tier 3 member museums. Given the current crisis, this and
other resources have been taken out from behind our member paywall to make them free
and accessible for all. The current crisis is taking a distressing financial toll on cultural
organizations, and AAM is no different. In these challenging times, we ask that if you can,
consider supporting our advocacy work and making extensive COVID-19 resources freely
available for our field, by making a donation or becoming a member of AAM. Thank you for
your much-needed support.
EVERHART MUSEUM
COVID-19 REOPENING ACTION PLAN

An opening date for the Museum will be determined by State and Local officials as well as our
capacity to provide a safe work environment for staff using guidelines to limit and mitigate the
effects of COVID-19. Museum administration will follow Centers for Disease Control guidelines
for community-based organizations.

We will continue to implement the following actions as defined in our COVID-19 Pre-Closure
Action Plan.

Keeping sites clean and sanitized:

• Sanitize surfaces that people touch often and more frequently;
• Sanitize the reception desks and its laptop;
• Sanitize door handles, handrails, elevator buttons, drinking fountains;
• Sanitize bathrooms (handles, sinks and counters, faucets, stall door latches, towel dispenser);
• Keep soap, sanitizer, and paper towels stocked;
• Continue to communicate plan to staff and the public. 

Purchase supplies:
• Add more hand sanitizer stations (outside gallery, at front desk, in the classroom). 

Keeping staff healthy:

• Encourage staff to stay home if feeling ill. 

Adjusting for financial impacts and adjusting budgets if necessary:

• Monitoring for decrease in attendance;
• Monitoring for program and event cancellation impact.

Main strategies for reopening:

1. Keeping the Museum clean and sanitized
2. Keeping staff healthy
3. Giving our visitors a sense of security
3. Keeping our visitors healthy
4. Adjusting programs and events
4. Adjusting for financial impacts

Stage One:
• Conduct a survey asking our constituents what they need in place to feel safe;
• Conduct a safety review of all museum spaces and recommend action items such as:
Placement of hand sanitizer stations
Placement of signage encouraging proper hygiene, recognizing COVID-19 symptoms,
and important of wearing face masks
Removal of in-gallery seating and interactives
Office configuration
Museum shop configuration
Cashless POS
Gallery flow
• Update staff on proposed actions and solicit input;
• Order needed supplies:
Facemasks for all staff and volunteers
Touchless hand sanitizer stations
Disposable gloves
Cleaning supplies
Door stops
• Develop a written policy and associated safety procedures for all museum guests, employees,
and volunteers to include:
Cleaning schedule - rotating gallery closure during operating hours for sanitization
Capacity control
Social distancing
Guests wearing masks
Blocking open bathroom doors with commercial door stops
Keeping flat surfaces clear at reception and gift shop counter
Coat and large bag check
Use of staff kitchen
Use of water fountain
Use of vending machines
Communications plan should there be rolling closures
• Communicate these action items to the public.

Stage Two:
• Phased staff returns after receiving guidance from State officials:
Enforce social distancing and wearing of facemasks
Limit team meetings
Stagger hours
Telework can continue
Reconfigure department of education offices
Prepare building for public reopening
Continue offering digital experiences/content for those less likely to visit during this
stage

Stage Three:
• Limit our hours of availability. Open public hours could be limited to Friday through Monday
to accommodate extra cleaning:
Telework can continue
Limitation on team meetings continues
Continue enforcing social distancing and wearing of facemasks for staff and visitors
Publicize reopening
Offer special hours for visitors with potential health vulnerabilities
Offer special hours for members
No group tours
No in-person programs or events
Continue offering digital experiences/content for those less likely to visit during this
stage
Implement visitor feedback loop

Stage Four:
• Ramp up hours based on capacity and State and CDC guidance:
Telework tapers off
Continue enforcing social distancing and wearing of facemasks for staff and visitors
when appropriate
Continue offering special hours for visitors with potential health vulnerabilities
Continue offering social hours for members
Small group tours can resume (scale in phases)
Small in-person programs and events can resume (scale in phases)
Continue visitor feedback loop

Stage Five:
• Hours of operation return to normal based State and CDC guidance:
Telework ends
Group tours can resume
In-person programs and events can resume*
Gallery seating in made available
Coat and large bag check resumes
Use of all building facilities resumes