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View Winners → The Huntington to Reopen Gardens July 1
Arcadia Weekly Jun 11, 2020
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Courtesy photo / The Huntington
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens will reopen most of its 130 acres of gardens—with new safety measures in place—on July 1 to visitors with advance tickets (and on June 17 to Huntington members with advance tickets). During July and August, The Huntington will also be open on Tuesdays, historically a day it has been closed, and will offer special evening hours on certain dates during the summer months in order to expand its more restricted capacity due to COVID-19. In July, there will be two free days, instead of only one, to facilitate broader public access to The Huntington’s outdoor spaces. Visitors should check huntington.org for ticket availability and details.
High-touch areas — such as the Children’s Garden and The Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science, galleries and other indoor spaces — will remain closed during the summer months but are expected to reopen in the fall. The Huntington’s research library also remains closed.
Those who wish to visit The Huntington beginning on July 1 (or June 17 if a member) will be required to secure an online ticket in advance at huntington.org. Due to Los Angeles County guidelines for physical distancing as well as group gatherings, only 1,500 tickets for regular daytime visitors will be available each day, representing about a third of the average number visiting on a busy spring day. All visitors will be required to comply with such COVID-related safety measures as wearing face coverings and being screened for symptoms, including a temperature check.
“Getting to this moment where we can open our gardens to visitors again has been a remarkable journey and a very careful process,” said Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence. “The Huntington is a resilient institution, staffed with energetic and extraordinarily dedicated people who have worked nonstop to stay in touch with our diverse audiences and get us to the point of reopening in a safe way. We have spent considerable time developing our safety protocols to protect our staff, our members, and the public. We know our visitors can’t wait to walk our paths again, and we can’t wait to welcome them back.”
Visitors will be able to experience a small portion of the expanded area in the Chinese Garden on the north side of the lake. Slated for completion in the fall, the total expansion project will constitute about 9 acres featuring new landscape, paths, pavilions, two galleries, and a café.
