The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the medical society that owns and operates the Mütter Museum, will start construction next year to expand its campus into a historic former church next door.
The organization said Monday it plans to unite its current home at 19 South 22nd St. — between Market and Chestnut streets — with the adjacent Swedenborgian Church and Parish House at 2129 Chestnut St. The college bought the property for a reported $9.3 million in 2023 with the goal of making the campus more cohesive for its fellows and the public.
MORE: Ken Burns' new series highlights some lesser-known revolutionaries from Philly and South Jersey
"We are not content to rest on our past," President and CEO Larry Kaiser said in a statement. "We see a need to move forward with plans for innovation, inclusion, and renewed purpose."
The college, established in 1787, is the nation's oldest private medical society and houses a vast historical library used by physicians and public health researchers. The Mütter Museum, founded in 1863, showcases a collection of more than 25,000 medical specimens that shine light on how various maladies were studied and treated.
The Mütter Museum's core gallery will now get a "significant expansion" in the college's existing building to allow for the display of thousands of more items held in stored collections, officials said. The vast majority of the college's 500,000 medical instruments, biological specimens, teaching models, texts and other archival materials are not publicly displayed.
Adding space will allow for new rotating galleries, a larger museum store and more opportunities for school groups to visit the Mütter.
The Gothic Revival church, built in 1881, was designed by renowned Philadelphia architect Theophilus Parsons Chandler Jr. and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It originally served as the Church of the New Jerusalem, an 18th century Christian sect that followed Swedish theologian Emanuel Swedenborg. The church closed in the mid-1980s and the building later underwent a renovation that converted some of its space into medical offices.
The college's expansion comes on the heels of the museum's two-year ethical review to examine and update policies for the display of human remains. The process led to a shake-up of the college's executive leadership that brought Kaiser into the fold in January and installed a new team to oversee the museum's future development.
Construction will be carried out in stages to minimize disruptions to the college, its visitors and the surrounding community, officials said. A fundraising campaign has already collected $27 million for the first phase, which includes creating a glass connector between the two buildings and opening up fully accessible entrances to both.
Other plans call for new classrooms and multi-purpose spaces that will serve college fellows, the public and attendees of future medical conferences in the city. The college did not provide a timeline for the completion of its work.
“We are thrilled about the opportunities the campus expansion provides to the Mütter Museum and Historical Medical Library,” said a joint statement from Mütter Museum directors Erin McLeary and Sara Ray. “This is a unique place where our visitors get the chance to see objects that spark curiosity, promote creativity, and encourage engagement with medical history.