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Petersen Automotive Museum Reopens Friday

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – The famous Petersen Automotive Museum in Mid-Wilshire reopens to guests Friday for the first time since it shuttered three months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Petersen Automotive Museum Reopens Friday
Luke Skywalker's vehicle from the "Star Wars" movies on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, Calif., on June 19, 2020. (CBSLA)

The museum has enacted several safety protocols, including designated navigation paths for each exhibit and hand sanitizing stations on each floor. Of course, all visitors and staff must wear masks, and visitors without one will be provided a mask by the museum.

Interactive exhibits, including the Forza racing simulators and the Discovery Center, are closed.

The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and visitors must pre-purchase tickets online in advance for specific dates and times.

The museum has about 400 cars and covers an area of 100,000 square-feet. In 2015, it underwent a $90 million renovation. Museum COO Michael Bodell Friday described the significance of the exterior.

Petersen Automotive Museum Reopens Friday
The Petersen Automotive Museum is seen amid the coronavirus pandemic in Los Angeles, California, April 27, 2020. - Due to the global coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic museums around the world, facing financial uncertainly, are brainstorming innovative ideas to continue to share their collections and community with museum-goers. For the first time ever yesterday The Petersen brought its monthly Los Angeles "Cars and Coffee" Sunday auto enthusiasts get-together online, presenting 140 specialty and rare cars in video clips sent in by their owners from around the world. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

"It's supposed to look like the air flowing over an automobile, its a very kinetic shape, just representing forward momentum," Bodell told CBSLA.

The museum has several blockbuster exhibits open, including "Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy" and "Reclaimed Rust: The James Hetfield Collection."

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