Old Sturbridge Village closing lodges, as demand drops

Photo | Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism via Flickr Old Sturbridge Village will reduce its hours this fall.

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Old Sturbridge Village will reduce its hours and close its lodging facilities, as well as temporarily stop taking reservations for weddings and other events, museum president and CEO Jim Donahue announced in a Sept. 2 statement.

From September through November, Old Sturbridge Village will open to the public on Fridays, Saturday and Sundays, as well as on Columbus Day and Veteran’s Day. Previously, the museum was open on Wednesdays. These reduced hours will allow the museum to see through what Donahue referred to as deferred maintenance projects.

“Leaning into the weekends and holidays in the fall will align to visitor trends we saw over the summer and will allow us to put our best foot forward every day that we are open,” Donahue said.

As for weddings and other banquet functions, the village plans stop taking reservations until it knows for certain it will be able to host such events without coronavirus-related restrictions. Lodging will remain shuttered due to decreased demand.

Additionally, Donahue said the museum is looking to rework its Halloween and winter holiday programming, which typically bring tens of thousands of visitors to premises.

“This is not our new normal – but it is our ‘now normal,’” Donahue said.

Following a closure due to the coronavirus in March, the living history museum reopened to the public on July 4, implementing a number of restrictions intended to curb the spread of the virus.