{"id":297397,"date":"2026-10-01T04:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T04:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/297397\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T04:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T04:34:16","slug":"drexel-no-formal-offer-received-for-academy-of-natural-sciences-nbc10-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/297397\/","title":{"rendered":"Drexel: No formal offer received for Academy of Natural Sciences \u2013 NBC10 Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drexel University officials said they haven’t received a formal offer that would help reopen the Academy of Natural Sciences museum, but added that they welcome discussions about potential sustainable funding.<\/a><\/p>\n

Drexel’s response came after supporters of the museum held an emergency rally, titled “Save the Academy,” Wednesday morning to urge Drexel University President Antonio Merlo and the Board of Trustees to reconsider the decision to close the museum, which shut its doors to the public on Sunday, Sept. 27.<\/a><\/p>\n

“We understand that so many in our community care deeply about the Academy of Natural Sciences and have strong views about its future. Drexel shares this sentiment and is committed to ensuring that the Academy\u2019s collections, research, educational mission and legacy are protected for generations to come.<\/p>\n

Our focus has been on safeguarding the Academy\u2019s collections and research enterprise while establishing a sustainable long-term model that provides meaningful opportunities for public engagement.<\/p>\n

We continue to engage in good-faith discussions with the Academy about its future. Because those discussions are ongoing, we believe they are best conducted privately,” officials said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Drexel also responded to reports that it had received a funding offer from the William Penn Foundation that could have helped keep the museum open for at least another year.<\/p>\n

However, in a separate statement, university leaders told NBC10 that they “have not received a formal proposal with a defined level of financial support” from the foundation.<\/p>\n

“We look forward to continuing to explore the possibility of Foundation support \u2014 alongside the considerable commitment Drexel has already made to preserving the research and education missions of the Academy \u2014 as we consider the substantial financial and operational challenges, including significant deferred maintenance needs, associated with keeping the Academy of Natural Sciences\u2019 collections at their current location,” the statement says in part.<\/p>\n

NBC10 reached out to the William Penn Foundation, but we have not yet heard back.<\/p>\n

Drexel University also said Mayor Cherelle Parker and Gov. Josh Shapiro designated Ambassador David Cohen as a third-party facilitator between Drexel and the Academy Board, with Deputy Mayor Patricia Wellenbach serving as a senior adviser as the two sides work toward a revised agreement governing the Academy\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

“That agreement includes a process for evaluating the future of the collections and the museum. Until that agreement is fully executed and approved by both boards, we do not intend to alter the plans that the Academy\u2019s Board and Drexel have agreed to,” leaders said.<\/p>\n

Finally, Drexel said it welcomes discussions with the William Penn Foundation and others about proposals that address the financial and operational realities of the building and could create a “sustainable path for its future public use,” including the possible reopening of the museum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drexel University officials said they haven’t received a formal offer that would help reopen the Academy of Natural…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[8055,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-297397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-drexel-university","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}