The D-Day Story museum in Portsmouth is preparing to reopen on Tuesday 14 July, with safety measures in place to meet government coronavirus guidelines.
Portsmouth City Council is working on plans to open more of its museums. The next site planned to reopen is the city's Museum and Art Gallery, next month.
The D-Day Story is reopening after being awarded the national We're Good to Go standard. This confirms it is following government and public health guidance, has carried out a coronavirus risk assessment and has the necessary safety processes in place.
The museum, on Southsea seafront, tells the story of the Allied invasion of occupied France in 1944 through the personal accounts of people who were there, using stunning audio-visual presentations and iconic objects from its collection.
It will be open daily, from 10am to 5pm, with last entry at 3.30pm. The car park and shop will be open.
Safety measures will include two-metre social distancing, hand-cleansing facilities at key points and staggered entry at busy times. The museum will need to take contact details of visitors and store them temporarily, in case they are needed for coronavirus tracing.
For more information and updates visitors can go to theddaystory.com or follow @TheDDayStory on Twitter and Facebook.
Cllr Steve Pitt, Deputy Leader of the Council, said: "The D-Day Story is an internationally important museum and a massive part of our city's cultural landscape. I'm so glad it's been possible to open its doors again.
"Hopefully it won't be too long before we can overcome the challenges involved in reopening other museums, which tell the story of Portsmouth and are so important for our identity as a city."
The council is hoping to reopen Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery in mid-August, with a major free exhibition – Portsmouth Revisited II. This is the second part of a permanent display about the history and character of the city. It will show more than 100 paintings, prints, photos and sculptures.
Visitors can get a preview of the display on the new Portsmouth Museum YouTube channel.
While museums are closed, a new online portal at portsmouthmuseums.co.uk offers a way to explore them from home. New material online includes stories giving fascinating insights into items in the collections, and sections in which members of the museum teams show their favourite objects.
For more information on council-run museums and the latest updates, visitors can call 023 9282 6722.
