Just short of its 200th birthday, a landmark natural history museum shuts down

Key Points:

• The nearly 200-year-old Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia is closing at the end of September, prompting thousands of families to make final visits and sparking a "Save the Academy" campaign with over 114,000 petition signatures.
• Drexel University, which assumed financial responsibility in 2011, cited rising post-pandemic costs and declining attendance as reasons for closure, despite a recent surge in visitors and revenue in the museum's final weeks.
• Critics accuse Drexel of providing little transparency or effort to prevent the closure, while the university states it remains committed to preserving the Academy's legacy and is exploring funding options with the William Penn Foundation.
• The Academy houses a world-renowned collection of over 19 million scientific specimens, but its public accessibility is uncertain following the closure, amid broader financial challenges facing cultural and scientific institutions nationwide.
• Philadelphia city council is proposing legislation to restrict the sale or repurposing of the Academy's historic building and plans public hearings with subpoena power to investigate the closure and explore potential solutions.