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rovinchick t1_j5sjtwu wrote

Reply to comment by continuity0 in Did the train at the Franklin Institute use to move? by Zyoy

Crap, I slept over there in 2020 right before the pandemic hit and now my skin is crawling thinking about mice running past me. 😂 They still haven't brought back the sleepover since then, even though other museums have, including the Academy of Natural Science. When I asked why, they said they didn't have enough employees to run them, but at $60/head times hundred of kids and chaperones, it seems like it was a profitable endeavour and would be worth finding a few more employees, even if they had to pay them a bit more. Heck, they may even be able to recruit volunteers to run them like the Battleship NJ and Adventure Aquarium do. 🤷

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voteforbk t1_j5tip5w wrote

The Franklin Institute laid off a far higher percentage of its staff than any other local museum. They laid off something like 2/3 of the staff at the end of March 2020, before any federal loans kicked in. There was a second round in June that year. There might not be anyone left who was involved in that Camp-In program in any capacity. They may have to rebuild it completely.

Also, that place is like the most mouse-infested in the city. A huge old structure that hosts hundreds of elementary schoolers every day who snack all throughout the building.

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rovinchick t1_j5tj830 wrote

Letting museum space sit any empty instead of generating revenue seems like poor management at this point. My kids loved that sleepover so much, we ended up purchasing a family membership right afterwards. They also haven't brought back their summer camp program, which I'm sure was a profitable program.

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voteforbk t1_j5tjn31 wrote

What can I say? It is poorly managed.

That said, I think the summer camp management were the same folks who ran the overnight camp, so you’d have to rebuild that as well.

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