Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences Closes Public Museum; Community and Officials Seek to Restore Access

Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences has closed its public museum operations just short of its 200th anniversary, despite a last-minute campaign by residents, elected officials, scientists and a major local foundation to keep the galleries open.

The shutdown marks a major change for one of North America’s oldest natural history institutions. Founded in 1812, the Academy opened its public museum in 1828. Now the immediate fight is no longer over whether the museum would close this week, but whether public access can still be restored under a new plan.

Drexel University and the Academy announced the closure on Sept. 1, saying the museum would close “as of September 30, 2026.” Staff were told the last day with regular public hours was Sunday, Sept. 27, according to reporting cited by analysts, and some accounts said the museum closed to the public at 5 p.m. that day.

In a Sept. 1 statement signed by Drexel President Antonio Merlo and Academy board chair Suzanne Biemiller, the institutions said: “As part of this broader effort and following careful consideration, grounded in deep respect for the Academy’s extraordinary legacy, Academy and Drexel leadership have made the difficult decision to close the Academy’s museum as of September 30.”

Drexel and Academy leaders said the museum’s public operating model had become unsustainable. They pointed to post-COVID-19 changes in visitation, rising operating costs and substantial deferred maintenance needs at the Academy’s building on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

The decision came from a university that has been affiliated with the Academy since 2011 and has been financially supporting it. The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported broader financial strain at Drexel, including multiyear budget deficits and enrollment declines, as part of the context for the university’s decision-making.

The closure affects the public museum and gallery operation, not the Academy’s scientific collections and research work. Drexel has said the Academy will continue its research, stewardship of collections, library and archives.

Those holdings are extensive. The Academy says it houses more than 19 million biological specimens, fossils, archives and other scientific resources, including more than 73,000 type specimens — the reference specimens used to define and identify species. Its Library & Archives hold more than 75,000 titles.

The institution is also going through a leadership transition. Drexel said Scott Cooper, the Academy’s president and CEO, stepped down when the closure was announced and would remain in an advisory role during the transition. On Sept. 2, Drexel announced that the city of Philadelphia would loan Deputy Mayor Patricia “Trish” Wellenbach to serve as a senior advisor to the Academy; Drexel said she would remain a city employee and would not be paid by the Academy or Drexel.

The closure set off a public push to stop it or reverse it. The William Penn Foundation publicly offered to cover the operating subsidy Drexel had been providing in order to keep the museum open for at least another year while longer-term options were explored.

“We have offered to cover the cost of the operating subsidy Drexel has been providing to keep the museum open for at least another year so that the full range of options for the future of the museum could be properly explored, and to provide time to test the interest of other funders and supporters who have not been engaged so far,” Shawn McCaney, the foundation’s executive director, told The Inquirer.

Drexel responded that it had not received a “formal proposal with a defined level of financial support” and said no proposal yet offered a permanent, sustainable path forward, particularly given deferred maintenance and long-term building needs.

Public opposition intensified in the museum’s final days. Local reporting estimated about 8,000 visitors came through on the Saturday of the final weekend, with heavy crowds again on Sunday. Community response included rallies, petitions and organizing by a Save the Academy coalition; one report said petitions had drawn more than 100,000 signatures.

Philadelphia City Council adopted a resolution authorizing its Committee on Legislative Oversight to investigate the closure and options to preserve public access. Drexel has said it is working with the offices of Gov. Josh Shapiro and Mayor Cherelle Parker, and identified David L. Cohen as a third-party facilitator designated by the governor.

The Academy remains a major scientific institution even without its public museum operation. But the closure of galleries that had been open to visitors since 1828 has sharpened the stakes of the current dispute. Nearly two centuries after the museum first opened to the public, the question in Philadelphia is whether that access can be revived before the Academy reaches its bicentennial in 2028.