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On Sunday, Sept. 27, at 5 p.m., the Academy of Natural Sciences closed to the public for what could be the last time ever.
Outside to watch its doors close and march to Philadelphia City Hall was a crowd of approximately 200 people holding signs, wearing dinosaur costumes and demanding the Academy keep the museum open.
Originally announced on Sept. 1 in a joint statement from Drexel University and the Academy, the closure cited financial strain and low visitor numbers. In 2011, the Academy and its museum merged with Drexel University, renaming the museum as the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.
A few days after the abrupt announcement, the Academy’s previous CEO and President Scott Cooper stepped down and the city agreed to loan Deputy Mayor Patricia Wellenbach to “help guide the Academy” and “provide stability and direction.”
While the museum closed at 5 p.m., it wasn’t until roughly 30 minutes later that all visitors had trickled out of its doors, many joining those gathered outside for a candlelight vigil.
Rain threatened the flames on the candles handed out by organizers, and many tucked their candles under umbrellas or shielded the flames with their hands. At least one individual exiting the museum after it closed was seen shedding tears on their way to the back of the vigil crowd.
Among the crowd was Isa Betancourt, an organizer with Save The Academy, the volunteer group established just days after the closure plan was announced. Before the group marched to City Hall, Betancourt spoke through a megaphone to the crowd from the museum’s front steps and led a chant.
“It’s not over,” Betancourt said to Billy Penn. “If there was a concerted effort to explore the solutions, and this was just the way that it was — like if we saw a capital campaign, and we were not able to rally and get benefactors’ support — then I’d feel like, ‘OK, they really did try.’ They did not try.”
The William Penn Foundation offered funding to keep the academy open for at least a year on Sept. 26. Drexel and the Academy have not indicated whether they will accept the offer.
Betancourt, who lives and works in Arizona, said she was taking “vacation days off” to rally for the museum, which she worked for from 2012 to 2022. Now, Betancourt and community members with Save The Academy are calling for an investigation into the museum’s closure.
“I’m going to investigate Drexel personally,” said Luke Berenato, a Philly native who attended the march and vigil. “We’re going to open the books. We’re going to find out what went on here. How did you blow through your endowment, and now you’re trying to sell it to a developer? Get these books open. Transparency to the public. What’s happening?”
It’s unclear exactly how Berenato plans to personally investigate Drexel, but it’s likely he won’t have to. Philadelphia City Council passed a resolution earlier this month authorizing the Committee on Legislative Oversight to hold hearings and issue subpoenas regarding the museum’s closure. The resolution passed unanimously and is among a number of measures taken by elected officials to keep the museum open.
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Mayor Cherelle Parker have also backed efforts to preserve the museum. State Sen. Nikil Saval, who represents the 1st District, sent Drexel and the Academy’s board a letter during Sunday’s rally urging them to keep the museum open.
Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr., who worked to introduce the resolution to investigate the closure, helped lead the march to City Hall and later addressed the crowd outside the building in a speech and a huddled, impromptu press conference. The museum falls within Young’s 5th District.
“We will continue to fight and use every door that is there to keep the academy open,” said Young. “You can’t value the public good that that Academy has given us for centuries. And so, along with my colleague, Councilmember (Nina) Ahmad, we are going to continue to investigate the Academy.”
The investigation itself cannot force the museum to reopen, but it could shed more light on the academy’s finances and how the closure decision was made. It could also identify funding, partnership or operating options that provide a path toward reopening the museum to the public.
Beyond an investigation, those in attendance for the march and vigil say they plan to attend the next Philadelphia City Council meeting Oct. 1 and push for the museum to reopen during the scheduled public comment period.
After holding a rally Saturday and leading the march and vigil Sunday, Sarah McAnulty, an organizer with Save The Academy, said her team will take a minute to regroup after the busy weekend but can’t imagine their efforts not paying off.
“It’s hard to imagine them not changing course on this because we have philanthropy behind us, we have the city, the people behind us, and we have many elected leaders behind us,” said McAnulty. “We know that the William Penn Foundation offered money to keep the public museum open and give a buffer to figure out the rest of it. I really can’t see an excuse for not accepting that.”
What happens to the museum building now is unclear. According to Drexel and Academy leadership, the immediate plan is to preserve the collections and continue the institution’s research and educational work while developing a long-term operating model and new ways for the public to access the collections.
No plans for the rumored condos or other redevelopment have been announced, and officials have said they have not made a final decision about the building’s future. Young proposed a bill to restrict types of development allowed on the site.
Locally and nationwide, other institutions have struggled as attendance has fallen post-COVID and operational costs have risen. The University of the Arts, the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion and the Neon Museum of Philadelphia all closed permanently in the last four years due to financial pressures, among other issues. But with the Academy of Natural Sciences, Betancourt sees a uniqueness that she said she believes could reopen the museum.
“I know that things could have been managed perhaps a bit differently with more valuing and respect for the institution and championing it,” said Betancourt. “I think there’s a lack of those things, and for those reasons, I do not accept this outcome.”
