SALISBURY Museum will be reopening to the public today (Saturday, August 1) and for a limited time it is scrapping its admission fees.

For the first month it will be open from Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm. Entry, for a limited period, will be via donation.

Museum director Adrian Green said: “It is absolutely fantastic [to be reopening] because we closed to the public just before lockdown on March 17 and the whole reason for being a museum is to welcome people through your doors to experience and enjoy the history and archaeology of the local area. To be shut is completely against the spirit of what we are all about.”

There will be a queuing system on the front forecourt when visitors arrive as well as hand sanitisation stations and a signed one-way system.

“We’ve tried to create the safest possible environment we can do to ensure visitors when they come here can experience the place without compromising their health in any way. Hopefully, it will still feel as it did before. It’s just tweaked a little bit,” said Adrian.

More volunteers and stewards will also be on hand to help visitors. Some interactive exhibits, where possible, have been removed.

Adrian says the coronavirus pandemic has had a “massive blow” on the museum’s finances.

“We really need local, and people from elsewhere, to come along and support us and visit the museum,” he added.

“We are asking people to donate, the recommended amount is £5 to come into the museum. We have basically abolished the admission fees because we were really keen for people to come. We don’t want to throw anything in the way of that. Covid is one barrier but we don’t want any other barriers either."

The museum is running a Salisbury-based exhibition as Adrian explains: “What we’ve done during lockdown is pulled out all the stores lots of interesting Salisbury history related items which people may not have seen before and put them on display."

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