Thomas Edison National Park In West Orange Will Partly Reopen

WEST ORANGE, NJ — As coronavirus cases fall across the state, including West Orange, the Thomas Edison National Historical Park is planning to reopen some of its visitor facilities on Friday, July 2.

According to a statement from the park, it will reopen some visitor facilities with limited occupancy and one-way visitor traffic flow at the Laboratory Complex and Glenmont Estate. These facilities will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

With the opening of these building, a park entrance fee of $15 will be charged to visitors aged 16 or older. Children aged 15 and under are free.

Effective July 2, visitors can enter the following visitor facility buildings at the Laboratory Complex and Glenmont Estate:

• Visitor Center (Building 1) which includes the park orientation film and the museum store which will also re-open.
• Main Laboratory Building (Building 5) which includes Thomas Edison’s library, machine shops, music room, and other exhibits.

• Glenmont Greenhouse where volunteers from the Short Hills Garden Club and park volunteers care for a variety of exotic plants like those grown by the Edisons.
• Glenmont Garage which contains Thomas Edison’s historic vehicles (as staffing allows)

With public health in mind, the following visitor facilities remain closed at this time, park administrators said last week:

• Glenmont Mansion
• Chemistry Laboratory at the Laboratory Complex (although visitors can look into the building, they may not enter the facility at this time)

According to park administrators:

“Occupancy levels will be enforced by staff and volunteers and signed at each building. One-way visitor traffic flow will be instituted within the buildings, and benches and other seating inside facilities will be removed to discourage congregating and promote social distancing. Consistent with CDC recommendations and State of New Jersey and Department of the Interior policy, masks must be worn inside buildings by those visitors who are not yet fully vaccinated.”

Consistent with CDC recommendations, people who are not fully vaccinated (have received only one vaccine shot or who are within the 14-day window after their second shot or first shot if they have received the one dose vaccine) must continue to wear masks indoors and in crowded outdoor spaces. Additional details are available at https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/news/public-health-update.htm

“While adhering to COVID-19 precautions as outlined by the CDC, we are very happy to again welcome visitors inside our museum buildings,” Park Superintendent Tom Ross said.

“Our park rangers and volunteers look forward to interacting with visitors and to sharing meaningful experiences at the Laboratory Complex and Glenmont Estate,” Ross continued. “In addition, visitors can now use the NPS app to explore the laboratory courtyard and learn how buildings were used by Thomas Edison and his company, as well as explore stories about the people who worked at the laboratory.”

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