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Lake County museums slowly reopening

Lincolnbedroom: “Lincoln’s bed,” can be viewed at the Waukegan History Museum, which recently reopened with reduced hours and required pre-registration.
Lincolnbedroom: “Lincoln’s bed,” can be viewed at the Waukegan History Museum, which recently reopened with reduced hours and required pre-registration. (Waukegan History Museum / HANDOUT)

One of the biggest draws at the Waukegan History Museum is the “Lincoln bed” on the second floor.

Now that Illinois is in Phase 4 of the coronavirus pandemic, visitors can once again see the famous bed America’s 16th president slept in when he was in Waukegan in 1860.

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All Lake County museums have been closed since mid-March based on a state order designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Phase 4 allows them to reopen, but with social distancing and mask-covering requirements.

Museums including the Waukegan History Museum, the Grayslake Heritage Center and Museum and the History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff are now open with revised hours and new protocols.

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The Wildlife Discovery Museum in Lake Forest recently opened its outdoor exhibits, but has kept the indoor exhibits closed.

Staff at the Bess Bower Dunn Museum in Libertyville is working to open by the end of August, and the Museum of American Sailors in Great Lakes has a tentative opening date of Sept. 8.

The Volo Auto Museum has delayed reopening until at least Phase 5 as it adds new major exhibits.

Museums also will continue to provide virtual programs to keep history alive in Lake County.

Waukegan Park District arts and history specialist Bryan Escobar said museums are taking time to reopen to determine the safest way to allow the public back into the buildings. In addition, he said, “Some of them have hands-on exhibits, and modifications have to be made.”

The Waukegan History Museum is open with limited hours and requires online registration to reserve a time. - Original Credit: News-Sun
The Waukegan History Museum is open with limited hours and requires online registration to reserve a time. - Original Credit: News-Sun (Waukegan History Museum / HANDOUT)

The Waukegan History Museum reopened July 20 and requires visitors to reserve a one-hour time slot online at waukeganhistorymuseum.eventbrite.com. Face coverings must be worn at all times, and only up to five people can be in the museum at once. Visitors can sign up for one of four time slots between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays.

“We buffer a half-hour in between each time slot so that handles, railings and other highly touched items can be cleaned,” Escobar said.

He’s been getting phone calls from locals and out-of-towners wanting to see the Lincoln bed, the biggest draw in the museum.

“A lot of people enjoy seeing it,” he said. “It has a lot of rich history, not just for Waukegan but for the entire Midwest.”

Visitors learn that the bed belonged to Waukegan’s first mayor and, when Lincoln came to the city, he stayed at the mayor’s home and slept on the bed.

“The bed looks rather small,” Escobar said. “So folks ask, ‘How did Lincoln fit on the bed?‘ The answer is, he probably didn’t fit very comfortably.”

“Before COVID-19, the museum offered guided tours and told the whole Lincoln story,” he said. But now everything is self-guided. “It’s another safeguard for staff and visitors,” Escobar said.

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Information about rooms and artifacts in the museum are now on the new Waukegan History Companion app, found at: https://www.waukeganparks.org/historycompanion.

The app not only offers information as visitors walk through the museum, but also enlightens users about various parks and outdoor sites of interest in Waukegan.

Research is once again allowed in the museum’s library, but those who want to use it need to first email a request. Then Escobar and another staff member will search for the materials, such as photos and newspaper clippings of old Waukegan homes. Volunteers who help with research have not yet begun to help with that task, Escobar said.

New games, new creatures

The Grayslake Heritage Center, reopened July 1 and has temporarily replaced hands-on play exhibits with a new exhibit explorer guide, which includes individual games visitors can play while in the museum. Visitors don’t have to touch anything, but their time spent at the museum can still be interactive, said Michelle Poe, the center’s executive director.

One example is “I Spy” in which visitors are asked to take pictures of things described in the booklet that are in the room. Another game has visitors looking at a picture in the booklet, and then at a scene in the exhibit room, which has some differences, for example a missing bottle.

“Exhibits and public areas are sanitized each morning, and throughout the day,” Poe said. Day capacity is limited and face coverings are required.

“Since we reopened, we’ve had one or two families per day,” Poe said. “We also have exhibits in the courtyard so people can look outside. Some people aren’t ready to come inside yet. Right now, an outdoor exhibit features Grayslake restaurants.”

The Grayslake Heritage Center and Museum offers an exhibit explorer booklet which encourages visitors to play games that avoid hands-on activities. This cowboy is part of an "I Spy" game, and once stood in front of the Last Chance Saloon, a longtime Grayslake restaurant and bar.
The Grayslake Heritage Center and Museum offers an exhibit explorer booklet which encourages visitors to play games that avoid hands-on activities. This cowboy is part of an "I Spy" game, and once stood in front of the Last Chance Saloon, a longtime Grayslake restaurant and bar. (Grayslake Heritage Center / HANDOUT)

The museum is open noon to 7 p.m., Wednesdays, and noon to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/grayslakeheritagecenterandmuseum.

The History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff reopened July 7. Visitors can explore the center from 1-4 p.m., Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursdays. The research center is open by appointment only.

Virtual exhibits include “Twenty in the 20s: A Century of Change,” which includes information on how a Lake Forest resident made the hairstyle known as the “bob” famous during the Roaring Twenties. The website is filled with hundreds of stories related to the center’s permanent exhibits. For more information, visit: lflbhistory.org.

Martha Sleeper, a famous actress born in Lake Bluff who acted with Robert Young and Bing Crosby in the 1930s and 1940s, is shown in a permanent and online exhibit at the History Center of Lake Forest - Lake Bluff.
Martha Sleeper, a famous actress born in Lake Bluff who acted with Robert Young and Bing Crosby in the 1930s and 1940s, is shown in a permanent and online exhibit at the History Center of Lake Forest - Lake Bluff. (History Center of Lake Forest / HANDOUT)

Though the Wildlife Discovery Museum in Lake Forest still has its indoor exhibits closed, the outdoor exhibits are open 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with staff and volunteers available to answer questions.

“We know these are tough times for everyone and folks are just looking for places to relax, get their minds off of daily stress and reconnect with nature,” said Rob Carmichael, the museum’s curator.

“We have strict rules of social distancing, and we highly recommend face masks,” he said. “There are other precautions we take as well to protect the public, our staff, volunteers, interns and the animals.”

Carmichael said some new creatures have been added to the outdoor interpretive trail since last summer. Visitors can now view a red fox, arctic fox and two young coyotes. “They’ll also see our bald eagle Betsy, our great horned owl Humble, our barred owl Cy, our bobcat Boris and an outdoor turtle pond with seven species of turtles,” he said.

“Because our indoor exhibits remain closed, our college interns bring out an assortment of animals that live inside, such as our armadillos, snakes, lizards, turtles and tortoises,” Carmichael said. “We also do regular feedings which folks love to see.”

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The museum posts updates on its Facebook page and offers virtual programs, such as one-on-one animal encounters for various fees. For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/wildlifediscoverycenter.

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Still planning

The staff at the Bess Bower Dunn Museum in Libertyville, owned by the Lake County Forest Preserves, has been talking with the Lake County Board about reopening in late August, according to Nan Buckardt, director of education.

“The staff is using the Phase 4 re-opening guidelines to make modifications throughout the museum galleries,” Buckardt said. “New protocols for staff and visitors have been developed.”

When everything is in place, the museum will announce an opening date, she said.

One of the museum’s main attractions is the life-sized, 20-foot-long dinosaur greeting visitors when they enter. The museum offers online programs such as a Zoom webinar on the Battle of Lookout Mountain coming Aug. 20. For more information, visit: https://www.lcfpd.org/museum.

The National Museum of the American Sailor has a planned reopen date of Sept. 8. “But that may change depending on guidance from our parent organization, the Naval History and Heritage command,” said Tricia Menke, curator of education.

“Command is continuing to monitor the COVID-19 situation, and they determine when the Navy museums may safely reopen,” she said.

“Whether it’s September or it gets pushed back, our goal is the safety of our visitors and our staff,” Menke said. “We are instituting mandatory masks and we are installing hand-sanitizer stations throughout the galleries. We’ll change to one-way direction through the gallery, so people won’t be able to track back anymore. We’re also making some adjustments to our interactive exhibits. We’re modifying or removing some of those.”

One example is a barrel visitors could lift to look inside and see what sailors used to eat during the Civil War. “We’ve now removed the lid, and people can still look into a plexiglass top,” she said.

When the museum reopens, visitors can see one of the newest permanent exhibits called, “Sails Unfurled.”

“It’s based on the USS Constitution, the famous, oldest ship in the Navy that’s still in existence,” Menke said. “The designer made the room look like you’re aboard the ship -- everything from the floors, to the walls, to the lighting.”

Podcasts on new and coming exhibits can be found at the museum’s website.

Menke said the staff also is offering virtual programs. For example, on Aug. 18, museum technician Kim Ortega will give a 45-minute presentation, “Great Lakes Great Women,” talking about contributions women have made at Naval Station Great Lakes.

The free online program is honoring the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment allowing women to vote, she said. For more information, visit: https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmas.html .

The Volo Auto Museum has decided to add new exhibits and make improvements instead of opening during Phase 4. Many attractions such as train tours and visitors congregating around animatronics shows are not allowed until Phase 5.

Brian Grams, director of the museum, said in a press release, “Some folks have let us know they are pretty unhappy that we’re not reopened.” But he said their patience will be rewarded.

Grams has added 60 acres to the property and, since the museum closed in March, staff have been adding new major exhibits such as a the Jurassic Gardens indoor dinosaur park, new movie cars and a train tour though an outdoor Ice Age exhibit. For more information, visit: volocars.com.

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