Depot to begin reopening

HAMLET — Almost exactly a year to the day that the U.S. declared COVID-19 a national emergency and forced the Hamlet Depot & Museums — along with nearly every other local attraction — to close to visitors, the Depot will begin its light reopening.

Starting Tuesday, March 16, the Depot will be open to visitors by appointment on Tuesdays and Wednesday, though Director Mechelle Preslar said that she won’t turn visitors away if they stop by at a time when there’s no appointment scheduled. This comes as the Hamlet City Council, eager to give kids and families their recreation back, authorized the city manager to resume city baseball.

Preslar said this light reopening is “baby steps” towards a full reopening.

“We have to open at some time so I feel like now is a better time than any to open,” Preslar said.

Visitors at the Depot will be required to wear face masks, have their temperature taken, and fill out a COVID-19 questionnaire to aid in the contact tracing process. Groups will only be “family size” at this point, according to Preslar.

To make an appointment, call 910-582-0603.

Preslar, who has gotten her first dose of the vaccine, said she feels comfortable that the Depot can do this limited reopening safely because of the level of precaution that the public has taken regarding the virus.

City Manager Matthew Christian said the city had been discussing reopening since last fall.

“Overall, I believe people understand how to responsibly navigate public life with reasonable precautions,” Christian said in an email. “We have all been dealing with COVID for a year now, and people know what is expected of them: wear your mask, wait six feet apart, wash your hands.”

With the allowing of city baseball and now the opening of the Depot, the City of Hamlet is ahead of other municipalities in the county in getting back to normalcy. Christian said the success of the vaccine rollout and the drop in new cases makes it possible to start reopening city facilities, with caution.

“Look, we have to start somewhere. With the reduction in cases and the increased availability of the vaccines, we feel like the timing is right to adapt with some measured changes,” Christian said.

For Preslar, who started her new job as director about two months prior to the shutdowns, she feels like this year is her true “rookie year” as director. Her early plans for events were cancelled, and she wasn’t able to get to know the community as much as she would have liked, but she was able to get creative regardless.

“I didn’t just sit idle (during the shutdown), I got a chance to really get a feel for this job and Hamlet and different aspects of what I need to do around here. That part has been nice,” Preslar said. “(Running the Depot) is all about the public and meeting people and I’ve just missed out on that.”

The Depot has three business tenants inside, and each of them were able to make it through the pandemic despite the restricted access to the building for their customers, according to Preslar.

On the horizon for the Depot is the return of food trucks. Starting April 9, every second and fourth Friday Preslar will host a group of food trucks in the Depot parking lot, along with every fifth Saturday. Working with Christian, Preslar hopes to add live music to these events, as well as allowing for a farmers market and crafters to set up shop.