Historic Dunvegan buildings remain closed to public, camping to continue

Karlee Kapler
Jul 27, 2020  •  July 27, 2020  •  2 minute read
Historic buildings remain closed at Dunvegan Provincial Park south of Fairview, Alta. on Saturday, July 11, 2020. Peter Shokeir/Fairview Post Photo by Peter Shokeir/Fairview Post

For the time being, Historic Dunvegan is closed to the public due to the nature of how the museum is designed and how historical materials are made available and presented.

Dunvegan Provincial Park campground will remain open for the rest of the camping seasons with users encouraged to guidelines set up by the province to help minimize the spread of COVID-19.

“Featuring historic materials in often close quarters, we are unable to safely implement measures and procedures that adhere to public health guidelines,” said Ellyn Vandekerkhove, program co-ordinator for Historic Dunvegan.

Vadekerkhove explained that the Visitor Centre and historic buildings will remain closed until further notice.

Staff at Historic Dunvegan stressed that it is important for users to come well-prepared if they choose to camp at the provincial park campground.

Campers are asked to bring their own hand sanitizer, water, snacks and toilet paper. Most campgrounds in Alberta will be cashless this year. Vault toilets will be available, but shower facilities will remain closed at this time.

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Campers are also encouraged to be self-contained to lessen the use of shared facilities if they are able to if you plan on RVing. Washing and sanitizing hands is before and after touching high-touch areas and shared amenities such as washrooms, bear bins, self check-in stations, boat launches, docks, and water fill and dump stations.

Visitors of the provincial park are encouraged to stay home if they are feeling unwell to prevent getting others that come in contact from getting sick.

“You must isolate for 10 days if you have symptoms, or for 14 days if you were exposed to a confirmed COVID-19 case or returned from international travel,” Vadekerkhove said.

Due to COVID-19 and respecting social distancing, Historic Dunvegan has cancelled all annual and new events that would be hosted at the provincial park in the summer months.

Where possible, events have been switched to a digital format and these events will be made available online. For example, the Fresh Air Markey will be held virtually this year from August 2-15 on Historic Dunvegan’s Facebook page.

“While we can’t welcome you in person to the historic site this year, we are doing our best to engage our audiences online on our Facebook page and through our #MuseumFromHome campaign,” said Vadekerkhove.

Staff will be posting the latest information regarding the historic site via their website at www.historicdunvegan.com