Can community chats be paused when a mod isn't around?

Greetings. I'm looking into making a public chat for my sub, but i would like it to be open only when a mod is available to keep an eye on it. I found some old info saying that there was a way to pause the chat, is that still possible? or is it the only way to do it to delete the chat and create it again later? I'm working mostly on desktop.