Fairfax Museum And Visitor Center And The Civil War Interpretive Center Slated To Reopen July 14

Press release from the City of Fairfax:

07/10/2020 2:31 PM

Two popular Fairfax City, Va., destinations will reopen Tuesday, July 14. The Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center and the Civil War Interpretive Center at Historic Blenheim were closed to the public in March to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Both sites are reopening with temporary hours and new public health protocols.

The Museum and Visitor Center (10209 Main Street) will be open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

The Civil War Interpretive Center (3610 Old Lee Highway) will be open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.

New Exhibit on Display

A new traveling exhibit is on display at the Museum and Visitor Center. We Demand: Women’s Suffrage in Virginia, commemorates the centennial of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote. On loan from the Library of Virginia, the new exhibit will remain on view through August 15. A panel focused on local women’s involvement with suffrage will be added in early August.

New Guided Landscape Tour at Historic Blenheim

At Historic Blenheim, visitors are invited to tour the gallery exhibition, A Diary on Walls, along with the replica of the Historic Blenheim House attic, with pristine signatures left by Union soldiers in 1862-63. A guided landscape tour is being developed as an alternative to the tour of the historic house, which, along with the Ratcliffe-Allison-Pozer House, remains closed until further notice. All public programs and tours, including the Second Sunday Program Series, have been canceled through July, but programs will resume in August with both livestreaming and in-person options. Historic Resources will continue to offer virtual tours and online gift shop sales.

Public Health Protocols

Historic Resources staff collaborated with the city’s emergency and safety officials to follow CDC guidelines and to implement procedures and protocols for routine cleaning, disinfecting, and social distancing. Staff and volunteers must wear masks, and visitors will be asked to take a temperature check. Only 10 visitors will be allowed into each building at one time. Each site has a Plexiglas barrier installed around the reception desk area, social distancing decals on the floor, and one-way traffic patterns in the galleries. Each site has disinfecting supplies stocked, including disposable gloves for visitors who wish to browse brochures and gift shop merchandise.

Information is available on the Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center’s website. For more information, please contact Historic Resources Director Susan Gray at 703-385-8415.

This press release was produced by the City of Fairfax. The views expressed here are the author’s own.