JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
A month ago, Drexel University announced it is closing Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences Museum this week. The 198-year-old academy's collection of scientific specimens is one of the most important in the world. Its sudden demise comes amidst a continuing decline in funding for cultural and scientific institutions. Reporter Andrew Stelzer visited the museum on its final weekend.
ANDREW STELZER, BYLINE: Before you even get past the lobby, just turn to your right, and there they are.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I'm seeing some real dinosaurs. It's my first time there (ph).
STELZER: It's your first time seeing a dinosaur?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yeah.
STELZER: The Academy of Natural Sciences was the first place in the world to display a dinosaur skeleton, back in 1868. Even now, the dinos are still wowing attendees like Remington and Cameron Howard here on a school field trip.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: T.rex - look at his whole body. It's just, like, sharp teeth. It's literally just a T.rex. Come on, bro.
STELZER: For Philly area kids, visiting this place has been a rite of passage for generations. So when word dropped on September 1 that the museum was closing at the end of the month, thousands of families began a wistful pilgrimage to see the dinosaurs, the mammal dioramas and other exhibits one last time. Zoe Abrams had her two daughters in tow.
ZOE ABRAMS: Maybe if they had announced this last year, they could have gotten the crowds they have now. Look at this. This is busier than Grand Central. Could have saved things.
STELZER: Drexel University, which has run the academy since 2011, explained on its website that, post-pandemic, costs have risen and visitation declined. In the past few weeks, however, museum attendance has skyrocketed amid a grassroots save the academy campaign. Revenue was more than 20 times higher than last September, but Drexel didn't participate in any of the efforts to stem the museum's closure. The university also hasn't detailed how much it would cost to keep it open.
ISA BETANCOURT: When they announced the one-month notice, it was a surprise for everybody.
STELZER: Isa Betancourt worked in the academy's entomology department for 10 years. She now lives in Arizona but hopped on a plane and came back to Philly to help organize the rescue effort.
BETANCOURT: This is the oldest natural history museum in the Americas, and if this museum can slip away like that, what's stopping other museums from going the same way?
STELZER: Like many universities, Drexel has been struggling financially, in part due to declining enrollment. That's fueled speculation that it plans to sell the 150-year-old building housing the academy, valued at more than $28 million. There are also concerns about the fate of the academy's massive irreplaceable library of over 19 million specimens. It includes Thomas Jefferson's fossil collection and plant samples gathered by Lewis and Clark. It also houses 73,000 holotype specimens, samples which scientists use as references for defining and naming species.
BETANCOURT: If anyone has a question, that is, you go. You look at the colors and the shape, and that defines the species. It's a very special historic place.
STELZER: Drexel said it will preserve access to that collection for researchers, but it's unclear what that means for the general public. City council member Dr. Nina Ahmad helped push for an upcoming public hearing on the abrupt closure. The council plans to subpoena financial documents from Drexel.
NINA AHMAD: We need to know how this came to be. What were the levers that created this decision, and how do we undo that decision?
STELZER: Last week, a local foundation offered a year's worth of bridge funding to buy some time. Drexel said in a statement, it is exploring the possibility but would need a plan for long-term sustainability before considering reopening the museum. Supporters are concerned that would become much more difficult after its doors are closed. For NPR News, I'm Andrew Stelzer in Philadelphia.
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