A Council task force on the Academy of Natural Sciences' future is one vote away

City Council took another step on the closed Academy of Natural Sciences museum Thursday. At-large Councilmember Nina Ahmad introduced Resolution 260944, which would authorize the Committee on Public Health and Human Services to create a task force to study the future of the Academy. Our record of the Oct. 29 session lists it as "In Council – Final Passage," so it could be adopted at the next session.

The museum on the Parkway closed to the public at the end of September. For many families it was where children first saw dinosaurs. What happens to the building, collections and endowment is now being fought over in public.

What the task force would study

According to the resolution's title, the task force would look at:

• options to reopen the public museum;
• long-term funding options;
• the Academy's role in science education for Philadelphia's children;
• its value to public health and community well-being.

The full text was not yet posted on our site, so we can't yet say who would sit on the task force or when it would report.

Where the fight stands

At the Oct. 26 oversight hearing, Drexel University said it can't keep covering yearly losses of $5 million to $6 million and that the building needs about $150 million in deferred maintenance, the Inquirer reported. The Academy's board chair testified that Drexel gave trustees a choice: merge fully, with the roughly $80 million endowment, building and collections going to the university, or separate, the Philadelphia Tribune reported. 5th District Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. asked why Drexel did not seek city help with the museum's operating gap, according to the Broad Street Brief. The committee recessed until Nov. 16 at 10 a.m., and Young said Council would issue subpoenas, PhillyVoice reported. Our story on that hearing.

What our records add

• Three tracks at once. Council now has three Academy items:

- Resolution 260737, Young's oversight hearings, adopted Sept. 17 and recessed Oct. 26. - Bill 260764, Young's change to the Fifth District Overlay, which would limit the Academy's block (Race, 19th, Cherry and 20th streets) to civic, cultural and similar uses. The Rules Committee has it on its Nov. 17 agenda. New on Thursday: the City Planning Commission voted to extend its own review of the bill by 45 more days, according to the mayor's transmittal letter. Our story on the Nov. 17 hearing. - The new task force resolution, 260944.

• Sponsors. Ahmad plus nine co-sponsors: Cindy Bass, Curtis Jones Jr., Jamie Gauthier, Jim Harrity, Kendra Brooks, Mark Squilla, Mike Driscoll, Nicolas O'Rourke and Quetcy Lozada. Young, whose district includes the museum, and Isaiah Thomas, who chairs the oversight committee, are not listed as sponsors in our record.
• Ahmad's earlier words. Before the closure, Ahmad told NBC10, "We're putting a stakeholder group together, we're looking at legal options" (NBC10).

What's next

• Nov. 12: Council's next stated meeting, where 260944 could be adopted (meeting page).
• Nov. 16: the oversight hearing resumes (meeting page).
• Nov. 17: the Rules Committee is scheduled to hear Bill 260764. We'll report whether the committee acts on it while the commission's extended review is pending.