CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Like all non-essential businesses, the Field Museum has been temporarily closed to the public during the COVID-19 shutdown for nearly two months; but, a lucky few will be able to visit Monday for a blood drive.
The natural history museum is making history by hosting its first-ever blood drive.
The Field Museum's Chief Technology Officer Rob Zschurnitz said after the American Red Cross asked for their help - looking for a large space to accommodate social distancing, the museum offered to host in their 21,000-square-foot main hall. COVID-19 is making blood drives even more vital, but also logistically challenging keeping everyone at least six-feet apart.
"They had sent us some requirements for what a space would need to be to accommodate the drive, and we were happy to accommodate them," he said.
The Field Museum is hosting a pair of blood drives, with the first one on Monday, May 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the second on May 26.
Zschurnitz said donors should have a great view of the museum's largest dinosaur Maximo the Titanosaur in Stanley Field Hall.
"Quite possibly could be looking up or at the neck, the head, the tail, or you might be right underneath the fighting elephants," he said.
The hall is named after Stanley Field, the museum's first president, who was born 145 years ago this Wednesday.
The Field Museum existed during the last pandemic – the Spanish Flu of 1918 - but not in the current location, where it moved to in 1921.
To keep everyone safe, the American Red Cross is only having five to six donors per hour. Monday's drive is already booked, but donors can make an appointment online for the next drive on May 26.
