Drexel closed the museum on September 30, and Council’s October 26 hearing ended with subpoenas and a recess until November 16.
Philadelphia City Council’s hearing on the Academy of Natural Sciences closure turned heated on Monday, October 26, when Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. tore up a copy of Deputy Mayor Patricia Wellenbach’s written testimony after she declined to appear. By the end of the afternoon, the Committee on Legislative Oversight had authorized subpoenas and recessed the hearing to Monday, November 16, at 10 a.m.
The hearing, chaired by Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, was convened to investigate Drexel University’s decision to close the Academy’s public museum. The museum closed September 30, with September 27 as its last public day. The Academy, founded in 1812, holds about 19 million specimens, and its research and collection care continue for now, though leadership plans to sell the building and no new location has been chosen.
The absences drove the anger. Wellenbach, who has advised the Academy at Mayor Cherelle Parker’s direction, sent written testimony saying she was not the appropriate person to testify because she could not speak on behalf of Drexel or the Academy. Young called the refusal disrespectful, tore up her remarks to applause, and pressed for subpoenas. Thomas said it was unusual for the administration to send no representative, and rather than adjourn the hearing, he recessed it to November 16.
Drexel’s top leaders were absent too. President Antonio Merlo and chief financial officer Helen Bowman did not attend, and staff from the president’s office read a statement in their place. In written testimony submitted to Council, Drexel said it and the Academy had spent 15 years pursuing alternatives, and it reaffirmed a commitment to working with civic, government, and philanthropic partners on a financially sustainable future. Council’s resolution sought a public record of alternatives including partnerships, fundraising, and phased operations.
Academy board chair Suzanne Biemiller testified that about a year ago Drexel gave trustees a binary choice, merge fully or split, an ultimatum she said upended the Academy’s own planning, and that Drexel has no leadership plan for the Academy. Councilmember Rue Landau read the 2011 affiliation agreement’s obligations into the record. Councilmember Nina Ahmad announced an advisory task force on the Academy’s future.
The public had its say as well. More than 40 people signed up to speak, a minute each, including longtime volunteers and educators. According to the Save the Academy account of the hearing, the financial figures presented to Council did not agree with each other, a discrepancy now on the public record. Council also plans to subpoena university and museum leaders, including Merlo, for the next hearing.
What happens next is a waiting game with two clocks running. The William Penn Foundation offered to cover operating costs for at least a year as a bridge to a longer plan, an offer Drexel has not accepted, while state and city leaders have appointed a facilitator to negotiate. The Academy sits on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, not in the Northeast, but it is a place Northeast school groups and families visit, and the fight now is over whether a reopened museum stays in Philadelphia at all.
