Managing Change During the 2020 Pandemic

Before the COVID-19 pandemic was upon us, Hotel de Paris Museum set a financial goal to raise $25,000 in admissions, donations, and shop sales between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.  Then, on March 25, 2020 Governor Jared Polis issued the first in a series of COVID-19 related executive orders for all Coloradans to stay at home due to the presence of COVID-19 in the state.  An extension of the order went into effect April 6.  On April 26, the  executive order labeled “safer at home” loosened restrictions for Coloradans to shelter in place.  A disaster emergency was declared May 22 due to the presence of Coronavirus disease in Colorado, and on May 25 the safer at home executive order was amended and extended.  Most recently, the Safer at Home and in the Vast, Great Outdoors executive order was passed June 1, offering some hope of a slow, but eventual recovery.

However, this long-term situation will make it exceedingly difficult for the museum to raise $25,000 by the end of its fiscal year.  To mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 to the museum’s financial health and stability, plans were undertaken early on to prepare the site for a phased reopening of Hotel de Paris Museum during its 66^th year of operation.

A Public Health Order issued by the State of Colorado closed our site, but guidance from Clear Creek County Public and Environmental Health aided in a successful (safe) reopening of Hotel de Paris Museum June 19, 2020 (one day after Governor Polis addressed reopening museums, which are considered non-essential and a small to medium exposure risk).

The closure was a time to continue fulfilling our mission and make changes in preparation of resuming guided tours and inviting customers back into our museum shop (admissions and merchandise sales are two of our revenue streams).  Thankfully, Governor Polis and County Commissioners Randall "Randy" Wheelock, George Marlin, and Sean Wood provided regular informative briefings to aid businesses reopen and work toward normalcy and recovery.

The following information is based on best practices shaped by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Governor Polis’ COVID-19 Response Team, Clear Creek County Public and Environmental Health, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America/Great American Treasures, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Press conferences, meetings, webinars, websites, and documents provided information that was collected and disseminated into five categories.  The result was “Reopening Plan for Hotel de Paris Museum."

HYGIENE

• Daily employee temperature check
• Hotel de Paris Museum provides a non-contact infrared thermometer and keeps an employee log of temperatures and symptoms
• COVID-19 Employee Health Screening Form for Onsite Screening in use
• Staff members with temperatures 99+* F will be sent home
• Temperature logs become part of the museum’s personnel files
• Staff were issued one non-surgical face mask
• Hourly hand washing by staff
• Repetitive use of hand sanitizer by staff
• Hand sanitizer containing 65% alcohol in use
• Hand sanitizer at points of entry/exit
• Museum Shop
• Museum
• Annex
• Staff restroom
• Executive director’s office
• Metal folding chairs available in each room 1^st Floor (museum)
• Replaces folding wood chair
• Can be disinfected after use
• No access to visitor security lockers until further notice
• Mandatory masks or face coverings for staff, volunteers, and visitors
• Masks or face coverings must stay on and cover the nose and mouth when on Hotel de Paris Museum property
• Single use masks or face coverings are available for visitors who arrive without a mask or face covering
• Visitors will be asked to leave the property if not compliant (Executive Order 6.4.2020)
• Disinfecting wipes, paper towels and bleach based cleaner in use
• Museum Shop
• Museum
• Annex
• Identify clean pens from used pens
• Provide separate, labeled containers
• Disinfect used pens with a bleach based cleaner

 

SOCIAL DISTANCING

• Guided tours of no more than 6 visitors + 1 tour guide
• Group size determined by room configurations
• Group size determined by room furnishings
• No more than 3 staff members on site
• Keep site occupancy to 10 or fewer people
• Executive director’s office restricted to ED only
• 6 feet social distancing
• Distinct standing spots identified for visitors (1^st Floor)
• Distinct standing spots identified for tour guides (1^st Floor)
• Guide will address from doorway in Room 13
• Guide will address visitors from doorway in Sample Room 2
• Relocated proprietor portrait gallery from a congested area to a large room
• Minimal changes to historic furnishing configurations add more usable floor space
• Removed seating to discourage congregating
• 6^th Street entrance
• Museum Shop
• Courtyards
• Sneeze guard installed at admissions desk
• No more than two customers in museum shop at any time; shared households may have no more than four in museum shop at any time
• Signage

CONTACT TRACING

• Online admissions have precedence to walk-up admissions
• Regulates size of group
• Serves as a reservation
• Aids in locating visitors should an outbreak occur
• Collects customer names
• Records contact information

PROGRAMMING CHANGES

• Reduced tour schedule
• Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays
• 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m.
• Discounted General Admission pricing for 2020
• Online convenience fee $1 per paid admission
• 1^st Floor tour only (Commercial Kitchen, Dining Room, Sample Room 2, Rooms 13 & 14)
• 2nd story virtual tour
• Cellar virtual tour
• Onsite visitors unable or unwilling to wear a mask or face covering can visit us online
• Take a virtual tour of the 2^nd Story for FREE
• Take a virtual tour of the Cellar for FREE
• Read Louis’ menu online for FREE
• Watch a variety of videos for FREE
• Examine our in-depth blog articles for FREE
• Removed interactive experiences until further notice
• Call bell
• Cold roll mangle
• Copy of restaurant menu
• Albums of historic photos, correspondences, and receipts
• Smell jars
• Suspended indefinitely Group Tours and Facility Rentals
• Cancelled experiential wine tours for 2020
• Cancelled annual Bastille Day celebration for 2020
• Cancelled Blue Star Museums for 2020
• Cancelled Smithsonian magazine Day for 2020
• Developed and executed a new online auction

SITE CHANGES

• Opened doors between rooms on 1^st floor
• Improves air circulation
• Eliminates touching of door hardware
• Opened windows for air replenishment and improved circulation
• Commercial Kitchen
• Sample Room 2
• Room 13
• Room 14
• Museum Shop (Sample Room 1)
• Restricted some areas
• 2^nd story
• Cellar
• Security lockers
• Admissions desk
• Separate entrances for museum tours and museum shop

VISITOR GUIDELINES

• Face mask covering nose and mouth required.
• Maintain social distance of 6 feet.
• Sanitize hands regularly.
• Follow staff instructions.
• Service animals allowed.  No pets.
• No seating, restrooms, or water available.
• Daily capacity is capped to ensure necessary space for social distancing.
• First floor tour only.  The 2ND story and cellar are closed at this time.
• Set aside one hour for your visit.
• No bags, backpacks, luggage, or strollers allowed.
• Do not visit Hotel de Paris Museum if you are COVID-19 positive, have had close contact with someone COVID-19 positive, or are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.
• Visitors not following requirements may be asked to leave.

To help Hotel de Paris Museum fill its fundraising gap, go to www.hoteldeparismuseum.org before April 1, 2021.

Street Numbers: Addressing Modern Requirements within an Old Context

Historic preservation is primarily about slowing down the inevitable progress of time, so when Hotel de Paris Museum was contacted by the Town of Georgetown’s code enforcement officer and Clear Creek (County) Fire Authority’s fire chief about adding street numbers, we quickly realized we had some important decisions to make. 

You see, it does not appear Louis Dupuy's Hotel de Paris ever had street numbers, perhaps because it has been a Georgetown landmark for over a century.  However, modern safety practices dictate buildings be identified in order to reduce response time in cases of fire, or ambulance and law enforcement issues.  Fire Chief Kelly Babeon explains, “The time lost looking for locations missing an easily read address number is time lost correcting situations that could well end up with fatal results for the occupants as well as adjacent occupants.”

Mock-up of 4" street numbers using Helvetica typeface

Georgetown Municipal Code regarding street numbers requires all buildings be numbered according to the Town’s addressing system, and the numbers be “distinctly legible, of contrasting color, at least three (3) inches high and prominently displayed on the building so as to be readily visible from the street of the address.”  These qualities are helpful and clear, but when dealing with an historic site one should also consider historic sensitivity, without blurring the present with the past.  And, in the case of Hotel de Paris Museum, making sure the addition of street numbers does not compromise the historic preservation easement administered by the Colorado Historical Foundation or create conflict with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Buildings.

Historic preservation practices allow for the installation of new signage at historic sites.  It is preferable to be sensitive to each site’s particular past while indicating the addition of a new sign is not of the past.  Therefore, in the case of street numbers for Hotel de Paris Museum, painted numbers would continue the tradition of painting on the hotel’s stucco exterior, as was done with Louis Dupuy’s crossed flags and banner mural and the Burkholders’ dining room and office sign.

Louis Dupuy's painted mural
(Courtesy of Synergy Photographics)

The Burkholders' painted sign

When introducing new informational signage (like street numbers) to an historic façade, it is best to choose a typeface that is clearly modern (after 1950) in order to indicate the sign is not historic or a reproduction of something that once existed.  In other words, we needed a typeface that could be identified as a creation of the mid-20^th Century, after the hotel became a museum in 1954.  

Helvetica typeface, a Swiss creation from 1957

Therefore, research of modern choices indicated the sans serif typeface Helvetica was an acceptable choice, as it was “a neutral typeface that had great clarity, no intrinsic meaning in its form, and could be used on a wide variety of signage.”  In the potential absence of documentation of the project (through a loss of records), researchers in the future would be able to figure out the museum’s street numbers were added sometime after 1957 (the creation date of Helvetica) and during the hotel's "museum era."

Hand-painted numbers continue a tradition at Hotel de Paris

If you are intrigued by Helvetica, you may enjoy a documentary about this very interesting (and surprisingly familiar) typeface.  Please see movie trailer below:

Please consider making a tax deductible contribution at hoteldeparismuseum.org.