'A ray of hope': Motown Museum to reopen July 15, four months after the pandemic hit

Brian McCollum
Detroit Free Press
Motown Museum CEO and chairwoman Robin Terry with staffers Kim Arnold, Mike Mroz and Shelia Spencer in front of the Detroit museum on June 25, 2020.

There are few images that say “Detroit” more definitively than Motown and the Hitsville, U.S.A., house.

So there’s some bright summer symbolism as Hitsville prepares to come back to life, four months to the week after the West Grand Boulevard site closed during the coronavirus outbreak.

The Motown Museum will reopen to the public July 15, welcoming fans to the most vital spot in Detroit music history — with some key changes in place for safety's sake.

“It’s definitely a ray of hope,” says Lattice Qualls, a longtime Motown fan and regular visitor. “When COVID hit, things were rough, so hearing they’re opening back up makes me excited. I can’t wait.”

The Motown Museum is one of several blue-chip cultural sites easing into reopening amid ongoing consultation and idea-swapping with health experts, government officials and fellow institutions. The Detroit Institute of Arts has announced it will return in limited capacity July 10, while the Henry Ford museum is reopening to members this Thursday and to the general public a week later.

“We’re seeing an appetite for getting back into cultural spaces,” said Motown Museum CEO and chairwoman Robin Terry. “There are some real positive indicators.”

The reopening comes smack dab in what is normally peak season for the museum, whose 90,000-plus annual visitors include tourists from around the world. Travel everywhere is down right now, of course, but Terry is confident there’s significant local and regional demand for visits, based on web traffic to the museum’s ticketing page and even recent walk-ups by fans asking if the site is open.

Visitors will find a timely new exhibit showcasing the record label’s artists and music during the late '60s and early ‘70s, a time of explosive social change reflected most famously by Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.”

Marvin Gaye on August 15, 1971.

“Capturing A Culture Change: Motown through the Eyes of Jim Hendin” will spotlight the work of Motown house photographer Hendin, who documented the fast-evolving styles and artistic personas of Gaye, the Temptations, Edwin Starr and others during that that pivotal era.

“It’s fascinating to look at what was going on in society, and how a record company then had to find new ways to visually connect with young America,” Terry says.

The timing is a fortunate accident: The new exhibit, which zeroes in on “What’s Going On” and other benchmark albums, was in the works months before this summer’s nationwide racial-justice protests began.

“That’s when you know things are divinely inspired,” Terry says of the timeliness. “The exhibit shows that — no different from today — moments arise in history where we have to reinvent and reimagine.”

Another new bonus for patrons: For the first time in the Motown Museum’s 35-year history, photography will be permitted inside. Terry says that’s been No. 1 on visitors’ request lists through the years, and it’s an inevitable concession to the social-media age.

Since closing its doors March 13, Terry and other museum officials, working remotely, have kept close tabs on CDC data and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s positioning as the pandemic unfolded. Regular video calls with institutions in Detroit and nationally were a chance to trade info and advice, and sketch out plans for a return to business once the health situation allowed it.

“It was about ultimately developing a plan that puts safety first for our visitors and employees,” says Terry.

One bit of action has already been back up and running at the Motown site: Work on the first phase of the museum's $50 million expansion resumed May 11, with construction greenlighted statewide by Whitmer as part of her phased reopening process.

As much as anything, recent months have taught the museum administration how to be fluid, Terry says — crafting health-first protocols while maintaining the core experience on the grounds where the Supremes, Stevie Wonder and Jackson 5 cut their teeth.

Stevie Wonder is in the studio at Hittsville USA on Grand Blvd. in Detroit.  He said, "I've been thinking of making a record in Detroit."  Picture is dated Dec. 17, 1985.

Once open, the museum will operate 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, shaving one day off the weekly schedule that’s customary this time of year.

And the newly instituted measures provide a good illustration of the way museums and cultural attractions in Detroit may be operating for the foreseeable future:

► All guests will get touchless temperature checks on arrival. Masks will be required — available onsite if needed — and hand sanitizing stations will be positioned throughout the museum. Maintenance staffers will regularly wipe down touch surfaces, and PlexiGuard dividers will be installed at key points of contact.

► The museum’s tour groups have traditionally numbered about 30 people. That’s being downsized to 10 — a more intimate size typical of the museum’s VIP events and other special occasions.  

“The smaller group allows you to have more engagement with the docents,” Terry says. “Obviously it will let people be more comfortable and have more personal space. But they can also engage in questions that were a little more challenging with larger groups.”

Tickets can be purchased on site, but the museum is encouraging guests to purchase online ahead of time if possible.

► The museum ultimately plans to adjust the way tours are handled: Rather than a single guide leading individual tour groups, docents would be stationed at four prime points in the museum, with groups coming to them.

The floors will be marked with social-distancing decals — styled as Motown vinyl records.

“How do we make this fun for patrons?” says Terry. “We have to do masks and screenings — so how do we achieve that and still remain an authentic, fun, inspiring place to be? That’s our DNA, and we didn’t want to sacrifice it.”

► The Motown Museum gift shop will remain open but limited to five shoppers at once. Meanwhile, an outdoor retail pop-up will be launched, including curbside service.

For all the ramped-up efforts, Terry says she’s proud that the museum board opted to keep previous ticket prices in place — $10 to $15 for various age groups.

“There’s a sensitivity to the community we serve,” she says. “The fact is, people have been hurting, and we didn’t want to be a burden. We want to be a refuge, where they come to be uplifted and inspired.”

That resonates with Qualls, who grew up on Detroit’s east side. Like so many in the city, Motown is part of her family’s fabric — including a mom who snuck out of the house as a teen to catch the label’s live revue at the Fox Theatre.

Today, she works in sales and marketing with the DoubleTree Detroit in Dearborn, where she frequently encourages guests to visit the museum or gifts them with Motown merchandise, “to take a special piece of Detroit back home.”

“I’ve fallen in love with Motown over and over again,” Qualls says. “I love the excitement of the museum. I love the fact that the music crossed barriers, brings people together, brings you through ups and downs. There are all kinds of emotions tied into it for me.”

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.