City Council indicated that they would issue subpoenas to one of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s top deputies and the leaders of Drexel University to get answers about the sudden closure of the museum at the Academy of Natural Sciences.
The 198-year-old natural history museum closed off its mounted dinosaur skeletons, wildlife dioramas and other exhibits to the public a month ago, on less than 30 days' notice. Lawmakers promptly authorized meetings to investigate the decision and examine alternatives.
On Monday, Drexel, which has been affiliated with ANS since 2011, sent Melissa Richman, executive director of operations, to be grilled by Council. Legislators stated that it was "inexcusable” and “disrespectful” that Drexel President Antonio Merlo and Executive Vice President Helen Bowman skipped the hearing.
Richman told Council that the administrators needed to be on campus for an accreditation visit; lawmakers responded by saying that their absence, along with the museum’s shuttering, was leading to a growing distrust between Drexel and Council — and, by extension, Philadelphians.
“Why is this museum not as important to you as it is to the general public and our city?” Councilmember Quetcy Lozada said. “You’re showing us that this museum, that is so vital to our city and its residents, is not a priority to you.”
Deputy Mayor Patricia Wellenbach’s name was crossed off the witness list at the last minute, according to Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, chair of the committee overseeing the probe. In the wake of the closure announcement, Parker loaned Wellenbach to ANS to serve as an advisor to the process.
Wellenbach submitted a written statement to the committee asserting that she was “not the appropriate person to testify on this matter, as I cannot speak on behalf of Drexel or the Academy.”
Councilmember Jeffrey Young Jr., whose 5th District covers the Benjamin Franklin Parkway museum district, held up a piece of paper bearing Wellenbach’s statement and ripped it in half.
“To tell taxpayers that someone who is on loan to the Academy on taxpayers’ dime, that that person is not the right person to come to talk to us, I call BS on that,” he remarked. “I think it’s unacceptable.”
Thomas said the committee would deliver legal orders to compel in-person testimony at a follow-up hearing scheduled for Nov. 16.
A year ago, Drexel sought to renegotiate its deal with ANS, in light of declining revenue from museum admissions and scientific research grants, said Suzanne Biemiller, chair of the Academy’s board.
“In its place, Drexel offered us a binary choice — merge fully with Drexel or get a divorce,” she said during Monday’s hearing. “Needless to say, this choice caused a crisis at the Academy.”
A merger would give the West Philadelphia school full control of the institution’s extensive collections, its building off Logan Circle and its $80 million endowment, Biemiller noted. A decision has yet to be made on the future governance structure.
Richman said the joint decision to shutter the museum was “neither abrupt nor hasty,” eliciting a chorus of boos and sarcastic laughter from the ANS supporters who filled the balconies inside Council chambers.
She went on to say that “the current operating model was quietly devouring the Academy from within.” ANS’s public-facing programming, including the museum, cost $7.7 million last year and brought in only $3 million in revenue, Richman testified.
Drexel has subsidized ANS to the tune of $49 million over the past 15 years and can no longer afford to divert $5 to $6 million a year to the institution, she added.
A two-year study, as “part of a strategic effort to fundamentally transform the Academy into a more financially viable, research-focused institution,” recommended the closure of the museum, according to Richman.
Any future exhibit or public engagement initiative would “almost certainly” need to be in a different location, she continued. The existing building reportedly has $150 million worth of deferred maintenance.
Council members, advocates and museum experts questioned why Drexel and ANS did not ask City Hall or philanthropic donors for financial support before ceasing operations at the museum.
The William Penn Foundation has said it is willing to cover Drexel’s contribution to the museum for a year, an offer that Alex Palma, president of the Museum Council of Greater Philadelphia, described as “once in a lifetime.”
“There are many people who are confident that the money to take care of the Academy of Natural Sciences is there,” he said. “It just hasn’t been tapped yet.”
Richman said Drexel remains in talks with the William Penn Foundation but is “really focused on a long-term financially viable solution.”
Ted Daeschler, ANS curator emeritus who spent decades at the institution, argued that relocating the Academy’s extensive holdings is “not a trivial matter.”
“I suspect that the realities of moving and rehousing 19 million specimens has really not been envisioned with open eyes,” he testified. “All of this adds up to probably more money than working on the Parkway building.”
Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance, said his organization is working on a petition to add the 150-year-old ANS building to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, which would protect it from demolition or significant exterior changes without city approval.
Several lawmakers, including Thomas, suggested there is an appetite for a public-private partnership, potentially involving municipal funding. Councilmember Nina Ahmad, meanwhile, intends to introduce a resolution this Thursday to establish a task force to explore next steps for the Academy.
The Save the Academy Coalition, a group that has been advocating for the museum’s reopening, planned to hold a candlelight vigil Tuesday night (after Metro’s print deadline) to mark one month since the exhibits went dark.
“If Drexel cannot steward the Academy and fulfill its sacred obligation to this institution and the City of Philadelphia, then it should step aside,” the coalition said in a statement.
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