On Sunday, September 27, the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia opens its doors to the public for the last time. At 5 p.m. the oldest natural history museum in the Americas, founded in 1812, locks up for good, and the T. rex that generations of schoolchildren stood under on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway goes dark with it.
The city did not go quietly. Nearly 56,000 people signed a petition to keep the museum open, hundreds rallied on the Parkway, and organizers scheduled a candlelight vigil and a march to City Hall for Sunday night. None of it moved the people who made the call: Drexel University, which took over the Academy in 2011, and the Academy’s own board.
Story Snapshot
- Drexel and Academy leaders say closing the public museum protects the 19 million specimens and the research behind them.
- They point to years of falling attendance that never recovered after 2020 and to rising costs in the old building.
- A petition, rallies, city council measures and a Save the Academy group all pressed to keep it open.
- About 41,000 visitors came through on the final weekends once the closing was announced.
Who Pulled The Plug
Drexel President Antonio Merlo and Academy Chair Suzanne Biemiller announced the closing in a joint statement on September 1, calling it a difficult but necessary move. Keeping the galleries open, they said, “would place increasing pressure on the resources required to safeguard the collections and sustain the research enterprise.” The two sides reached a tentative agreement to move the collections and sell the building. The scientific work continues; the public part ends.
Leaders pointed to lower foot traffic and higher costs as the main factors. Admission had been dwindling for years and never fully came back after the pandemic. The Academy said it reviewed a range of alternatives before deciding to close the museum to the public, but did not say which options were tested or why they failed. Its president and CEO, Scott Cooper, is stepping down.
A City Pushes Back
Residents, teachers and families rallied outside the building, urging Drexel to reverse course. City council members joined them and introduced measures to contest the closing. A Save the Academy group formed within days and its petition passed 56,000 signatures. “How many Philadelphians remember being awed by first seeing the dinosaur skeletons?” the group asked. Supporters call the shutdown a loss for the city’s culture and for science education, and want a plan that keeps the doors open.
Curator Robert McCracken Peck put the stakes in scientific terms: “These collections were made at specific times in history. We can never go back to collect more of these voucher specimens.” The specimens will stay preserved, the Academy says. What people will lose is the chance to stand in front of them.
Where This Stands Right Now
The official reason is clear enough: protect the collections and the research by cutting a public operation that no longer pays for itself. The pattern fits the country. The American Alliance of Museums reported that more than half of museums still draw fewer visitors than in 2019, with median traffic at 81 percent, which squeezes budgets built for fuller houses.
Sunday is your last sure chance to visit the Academy of Natural Sciences museum
Its planned closure has sparked public outcry and a movement to keep it open. Here's what to expect if visiting the museum.https://t.co/qA4U3JV6Z6— Lawrence A Feinberg (@lfeinberg) September 25, 2026
What the public has not seen is the math. The Academy and Drexel have not released detailed budgets or line-item costs showing that closing was the only path. Leaders said they examined alternatives but did not publish the list. If a rescue is possible through donors, the city or a smaller footprint, the people asking for one will need those numbers. For now, the last tickets are walk-up, $18 for children and $22 for adults, and the line on the Parkway is the closing argument.
Sources:
inquirer.com, drexel.edu, save-the-academy.org, thetriangle.org