The Museum of the Aleutians has reopened. At least, kind of.
New Executive Director Dr. Neal Hitch has been on the job for the last two weeks. In that time, he said more than 970 people have visited the museum, even though it's technically closed.
At a meeting on Friday, Hitch told the museum's board of directors that most visitors are tourists who don't know the museum has been closed since last fall. That's when the board first placed former director Zoya Johnson on administrative leave after items from the collection were found in her home.
Hitch has informally opened the building for visitors this month, especially during cruise ship and ferry stops. But he said now it's time to make it official.
He and the board are looking to hire a front desk worker so they can reopen the museum with limited hours. He said they'll start with Saturday openings and expand from there, depending on when the museum sees the most visitors.
Meanwhile, Hitch and the board are dealing with other housekeeping items before the building fully reopens.
Along with restocking inventory for the gift shop and upgrading the computer network, the board is working on museum finances. They're in the process of finalizing the budget for fiscal year 2017, as well as transferring a $42,000 emergency fund from Johnson's name to Hitch's.
The museum's board of directors will hold its next meeting on Sept. 7.