CLARKSVILLE, TN — April showers bring May flowers, and beginning May 1, the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center will be back in “full bloom” as it resumes its Saturday schedule.
The museum will resume pre-COVID hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday 1-5 p.m. and will no longer close for one hour at mid-day during the week. Per the latest update from the City of Clarksville, cleaning and safety precautions will remain a priority; masks are strongly encouraged but no longer required for visitors at the museum.
Also, beginning May 1, the museum will resume public rentals of spaces within the facility and accept groups larger than ten people. Information on reserving rentals and group visits is on the museum’s website.
“We would like to thank the community for their patience and willingness to follow COVID precautions so we can safely reopen to the public at our pre-pandemic schedule,” says Executive Director Frank Lott. “We’ve missed seeing our Saturday visitors, and we’re confident that we’ve finally reached the point that we can operate at full schedule.”
In addition to returning to Saturday hours, the museum is also introducing Fifth Saturday Donation Days. Any month with five Saturdays, on the fifth Saturday any monetary donation to the museum is your admission. The very first Fifth Saturday Donation Day will be held on May 29.
The public is invited to enjoy the museum while directly supporting the museum’s mission of creating educational programming for children and adults, preserving our historical collection, and supporting our award-winning exhibitions.
Also returning on Wednesday, May 5, at the museum is the annual community-wide giving day, The Big Payback. The museum will host an in-person event, La Gran Payback – a Cinco de Mayo fiesta-inspired fundraiser, on Wednesday, May 5, from 5-8 p.m. The event and museum are open to the public with free admission. Fiesta-style food and music will be featured in the museum’s courtyard. This is the sixth year the museum has participated in the Big Payback, a giving day for Middle Tennessee nonprofits hosted by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
“Our goal is to match and hopefully exceed last year’s $7,500 in donations during the Big Payback. Donations support the museum’s mission, and we hope the community enjoys the Cinco de Mayo festivities and supports the museum at the same time,” Lott added.
The 24-hour fundraiser begins at 6 p.m. on May 5 and runs through May 6 at 6 p.m. Stay tuned to the museum’s website and Facebook page for more information on the fundraising event.