Please Touch Museum Files For Bankruptcy

The Please Touch Museum, the popular Philadelphia children’s museum that has struggled financially since moving from Old City to Fairmount Park’s Memorial Hall in 2008, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Museum will seek to raise $10 million between now and next March, and will remain open in the meantime.

“After two years of negotiations to restructure roughly $60 million in bond debt, the Please Touch Museum announced today that it has reached a settlement with a majority of its bondholders. The Museum then filed a Chapter 11 case in US Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia to implement the settlement,” the Museum said in a statement

“Today’s filing puts Please Touch Museum on a path towards even greater success,” Sally W. Stetson, Chair of the Board of Directors, said in the press release.

“To be very clear, the Museum will remain open. We are simply entering into a process to resolve the institution’s debt and position ourselves for lasting growth and sustainability. When the process is complete, the Museum will be on stable financial ground, have a strong foundation for the future and offer expanded programming.”

The Museum’s 2008 move coincided with the financial crisis, with fundraising significantly affected and the value of the Museum’s previous building depreciating prior to its sale. Please Touch defaulted on its loan debt two years ago.

Last month, the Museum announced an agreement with Imagination Playground, LLC to provide “creative play” during the World Meeting of Families this month.