Friday was a long-awaited day for many San Diego businesses and organizations.
After being closed for about three-months, all but a few places can now reopen. They include:
- Gyms
- Community pools
- Bars and wineries
- Hotels
- Card rooms
- Family entertainment, including bowling alleys and arcades
- Movie theaters
- Day camps
- Schools
- Music, film and TV production
- Museums
Just because places can reopen, however, doesn’t mean they are doing so, at least not just yet. As a matter of fact, the only museum that opened Friday in Balboa Park was the Air and Space Museum.
President and CEO Jim Kidrick said the museum started planning to reopen within hours after they had to close. He said they’re only letting in 30% of their previous capacity, and they’re watching to see how things go and willing to make adjustments.
“We’re going to change things as we find that we can continue doing them safely because our number one goal is certainly safety for our staff and our volunteers," he said. "And as we adhere to that, it’s safety for our guests."
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People answer a now-familiar set of questions when they enter, and there are reminders on the floor about physical distancing, or, fittingly for this museum, "space."
Guests have to wear facial coverings, and the museum thought of something else. When visitors enter the museum, they each get a pen with the museum's logo on it. But it's not just a pen. On one end is a stylus, thereby solving the problem of having to touch buttons.
“We actually came here to take advantage of the beach being open and just by chance we saw that this museum was open when we were looking at other things to do," said Ethan Jackson, who was visiting from Sacramento along with family and friends.
Kidrick said the museum was able to avoid laying off any of their 80 full and part-time staff. Now, he’s hoping the future for this San Diego treasure proves as successful as its long-awaited reopening day.
