Overview
- Drexel University announced the public museum at the Academy of Natural Sciences will close after September 30, 2026, and made the Logan Square site available to visitors through that date.
- Scott Cooper, the Academy's president and CEO, has resigned following the closure decision.
- University leaders said years of falling admissions that never fully recovered after the COVID‑19 pandemic and rising costs to maintain the 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway building drove the decision to prioritize stewardship.
- Officials pledged the Academy's more than 19 million biological specimens, fossils and research materials will remain accessible for scientific study while Drexel explores new ways to keep collections and programs available to Philadelphia audiences.
- Leaders acknowledged the decision will be painful for staff and the community and signaled possible second‑order effects including shifts to consolidated, higher‑security storage for collections and searches for alternative public‑engagement models in the city.