What went wrong at Philly’s Academy of Natural Sciences? Former museum staffers point to years of missteps “There was a big push to not be known as the dinosaur museum,” said one laid-off worker. That shift came with a cost, ex-staffers say.

In early September, when the Academy of Natural Sciences announced it would close its natural history museum, the oldest in the country, scientists, teachers, passionate fans and elected officials were shocked and outraged. Leadership cited declining visitor numbers post-pandemic and rising costs. They said they had to close the museum to protect the financial future of the scientific research and collections. Longtime staffers say there’s more to the story. They agree that attendance did drop and that it’s always been expensive to run and maintain its century-old building. However, they also argue that missteps from the museum and Drexel leaders,...