Big museum on Independence Mall in Philadelphia, PA, abruptly announces it’s closing

A museum just one block from the Liberty Bell on Independence Mall in Center City Philadelphia has abruptly announced it's closing for good in just a matter of days.

The facility, billed as "Philadelphia’s most immersive museum," had only been open since 2021 and seems to be a victim of a number of factors, including the following:

• COVID-19
• Fewer people visiting Center City
• Structural limitations on its own building

The $60 million center was anticipated to draw around a quarter of a million visitors per year, but it appears that those expectations fell well short.

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Faith and Liberty Discovery Center in Philadelphia, PA, Closing

According to ChristianHeadlines.com, the American Bible Society's Faith and Liberty Discovery Center at 5th and Market Streets announced on March 13th that it would be closing for good on March 28th.

The American Bible Society, which owns the facility, designed it to share "the importance of the impact of Scripture on the development of the United States.”

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ReligiousNews.com quoted Roy Peterson, then ABS president, in 2018 as saying,

We want the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center to be a place that unites people, shows how faith has always played a role in our nation, and helps visitors consider what difference faith can make in our lives today.

Less than three years later, it's shutting down.

"Despite the valiant efforts"

In an email to staffers, ABS President Jennifer Holloran said the museum was a "wonderfully innovative idea” but "despite the valiant efforts of our [Faith and Liberty Discovery Center] leadership and team, we have not been able to achieve the long-term sustainability that an experience like that needs to be successful.”

Museum Tickets

The museum will be open until March 28th. Any tickets that have been purchased for after that date will be refunded.