The Western Development Museum in North Battleford will be open to the public, starting August 12. (Josh Ryan/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Josh Ryan

Historical access returns

Western Development Museum in North Battleford to open in August

Jul 24, 2020 | 10:13 AM

Western Development Museum will reopen the North Battleford, Moose Jaw and Yorkton locations in next month, with members and volunteers able to visit on Aug. 5 and full public access on Aug. 12.

The Saskatoon location opens to the public on Aug. 19. While shifting to virtual programs did draw attention, CEO Joan Kanigan said it’s exciting to finally open doors again.

“We are thrilled to welcome visitors back to our museums. It’s been a long five months and staff have been working tirelessly to ensure visitors have a safe experience when they visit,” she said.

Locations will be open at 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday, with the first hour on weekdays dedicated to seniors and others more vulnerable to the coronavirus.

“We thought it was really important to have some time in our museum spaces for people who feel more at risk,” Kanigan said.

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Public programming and summer events remain cancelled and each location will have every possible safety precaution in place, with all orders of personal protective equipment having arrived.

“We’re also going to be collecting first names and phone numbers,” Kanigan said. “So that we can do contact tracing, if there is a case of COVID traced back to the museum.”

All summer events at the North Battleford WDM location will remain canceled. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Despite limitations in programming, Kanigan said they will make every visit worth it.

“We can’t do some of the hands-on things that we’ve done,” she said. “But we’re hoping people still find their visit to the museums as welcoming as they’ve been in the past.”

Joyce Smith, manager of the Western Development Museum in North Battleford, shared that confidence in providing a welcoming experience, adding the option of masks will be there for visitors.

“They are welcome to wear masks. Staff will be wearing them and we’ll have sanitizer available for them,” she said. “All the safety protocols.”

Smith said staff in North Battleford have been itching to open to the public. Despite being shutdown, they’ve remained busy.

“We’ve had a lot of activity going on,” Smith said. “A lot of behind the scenes maintenance work, that kind of thing.”

And that was the one silver lining for the North Battleford location during the pandemic.

“We were fortunate not to have to lay off staff,” Smith said. “We had them working on projects they wouldn’t have been working on otherwise.”

More information on the protocols and procedures can be found at wdm.ca.

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josh.ryan@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JoshRyanSports