[NHCOLL-L:491] Re: Food in museums

[Linda Ellis]

1) The immediate issue of concern would be if you plan to modify the
plumbing in any way.  I have experience being in two museum floods, both
man-made, the latter was a drinking fountain which flooded our Egyptian
mummy exhibit.  Anyway, more specifically to your question, as part of
offering food services, it is common to modify the plumbing system to
accommodate a kitchen, a food waste disposal unit ('garbage disposal')
in the sink, or installation of water fountains.  These can be sources of
leaking and flooding if they stress existing plumbing systems in older
museum buildings.

2) You will really have to keep a tight watch on how garbage is disposed
of, both inside and outside your building.  Where will the sandwich and
candy wrappers be disposed of by the public and how often will these
garbage units be emptied?  This is no small issue.  No garbage, no matter
how innocuous, should be left inside the museum overnight.  Even though no
candy is left in the wrapper, ants can smell the sugar scent all the way
up a 3-storey building.   And coca-cola cans are particularly dangerous,
the sugar-like odor is like a magnet for ants, even though the coke has
been completely consumed--I would recommend a separate cannister, lined
with a removable plastic garbage bag, which is removed twice a day.  [I
have also had an ant-invasion all over a Southwest ceramics exhibition
because someone was eating donuts in the rooms next door.]

Hope this helps!

Dr. Linda Ellis
Director, Museum Studies Program
San Francisco State University

ELLISL at SFSU.EDU				postal address:
www.sfsu.edu/~museumst/			Museum Studies Program
415-338-1612 (office)			College of Humanities
415-338-7030 (FAX)			San Francisco State University
					1600 Holloway Avenue
					San Francisco, CA   94132

On Thu, 9 Mar 2000 bhager at dmnhnet.org wrote:

> I am in need of some information.
> 
> There has been some discussion here about opening a small diner on the
> second floor of our museum.  Food would consist of sandwiches, candy, and
> other small things.  Cokes would also be available.  The food would be
> limited to the eating area.  Has anyone been around when food was first
> introduced to your museum?  Did that introduce any new problems?  Were you
> able to keep bugs, rodents and people  under control?  In thinking of the
> museums I have been to, any eating area was usually in the basement.  Is
> there a reason it should not be on the top floor?  There shouldn't be any
> cooking so I don't worry about fires or temp changes.  The diner would be
> right between 2 dinosaur exhibits and on the floor below it are 4 diorama
> halls.  Any information would be appreciated because food in the museum on a
> permanent basis is not something I have had to deal with before.
> 
> Britney Hager
> Collections Manager
> Dallas Museum of Natural History
> 3535 Grand Ave
> Dallas  TX  75210
> (214)421-3466 Ext. 205
> bhager at dmnhnet.org
> 
>