The Jacksonville Area Museum being constructed in the old Post Office building will host a work-in-progress tour for the public Saturday, October 10th. Museum Board Chairman David Blanchette says that the board has been working diligently over the last year to get the building ready to open full-time next year.
Blanchette says the tour will give the public an idea of what’s been going on at the old Post Office building, which has been closed for quite some time: “It’s 9 months before our full, public opening, but the public has been clamoring to see what we are doing in the old Post Office building. We are going to give them a chance to see the work in progress on Saturday, October 10th from 10AM to 2PM. There are a number of different guidelines that they must follow as COVID precautions, but we thought it would be interesting for them to see what we have been talking about for so long and to give them an idea of what’s in store when we open full time in the summer of 2021.”
Blanchette says there may be lines to get in for the tour: “There’s no cost whatsoever. There is going to be a maximum of 30 visitors allowed inside the museum at any given time. There are other COVID precautions that are in place, so it is possible that visitors will have to wait a little while if there is a line of people waiting for admission. If everyone will just be patient and just follow all the protocols, they can get a peek inside.”
Blanchette says there is still a lot to see despite the work in progress: “There is going to be one partially completed exhibit. There will be artists’ renderings of some of the other exhibits that are planned. There are a couple of completed children’s activities, which they can see; and they can see the space. A lot of people probably haven’t been in the old Post Office Building since it closed many years ago. It may be interesting for them to see what we have done with the space and what our plans for the future are. Something else I need to mention is we have an entire hallway is dedicated to the MacMurray College collection. We signed an agreement with the college to care for and display their artifact collection. We’ve got what we call the ‘Mac Hall’ or ‘MacMurray Hall’ and that hallway will feature a number of select items from the MacMurray collection, which visitors on October 10th will be able to see.”
Visitors will be admitted to the tour on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 10AM on Saturday, October 10th. Visitors temperatures will be taken prior to entry into the building. Names and contact information will also be taken as a precaution from all those who visit. No food or beverages will be allowed. Hand sanitizer and accessible restrooms will be available.
For more information, visit the Jacksonville Area Museum’s Facebook page.