Philadelphia’s 200-Year-Old Academy Museum to Close Sept. 30 as Attendance Slumps
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 1
Philadelphia’s 200-Year-Old Academy Museum to Close Sept. 30 as Attendance Slumps
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 1
Summary
Sept. 30 will mark the permanent closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences museum in Philadelphia, ending public access to the nearly 200-year-old institution known for Dinosaur Hall and its T. rex.
Drexel University and the academy said struggling attendance and rising costs drove the decision, with post-pandemic recovery efforts producing only mixed results.
Antonio Merlo, Drexel’s president, and board chair Suzanne Biemiller said the pressures were no longer temporary but reflected deeper changes in the museum’s operating economics.
The shutdown comes just two years before the museum’s bicentennial, closing a Philadelphia institution that first opened when John Quincy Adams was president.