Boston: In aftermath of bombings, museums offer free entry today

Two art museums in Boston are opening their doors for free Tuesday to help residents and visitors heal from the deadly explosions that rocked the Boston Marathon on Monday.

The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston on the city’s waterfront announced the free admission via Twitter and added: “We hope the museum will offer a place of community & reflection.”

The Museum of Fine Arts also will be free with activities such as story hours for families and children and art-making workshops designed to keep young and old focused on something other than the blast. “We hope the Museum will be a place of respite for our community,” the museum tweeted.

However the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and the USS Constitution at the Navy Yard in Charlestown are closed Tuesday.

The city has beefed up security with 400 National Guard members patrolling Copley Square, which is closed. A large swath of the Back Bay neighborhood -- a mile long and three blocks wide -- remains shut while the FBI and other authorities search for clues to find who planted two bombs near the marathon’s finish line.

Hotels in the crime scene area are temporarily closed too. Boston’s landmark Copley Square Hotel has listed protocols on its website for guests who need to enter or exit the building. The Mandarin Oriental issued this statement: “All guests and employees who were located at the hotel are safe and accounted for. The management team is working closely with the local authorities on when the hotel can re-open ...”

The blasts killed three people and injured more than 100 others. President Obama said the event is being investigated as a terrorist act.

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