The heart wants what it wants, and right now, the heart wants a break.
The giant heart at the Franklin Institute is going on hiatus beginning Monday, May 6. The well-known exhibit, a two-story-high model that visitors can walk through, will be closed through the summer and reopen in November as the centerpiece of a new exhibit on the human body. This closure is part of the museum's ongoing plan to reorganize its collection into fewer but more robust core exhibits.
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The first of these reimagined exhibits was "Wondrous Space," a 7,500-square-foot collection of rovers and interactive astronaut experiences that opened last fall. The museum's original, smaller space exhibit shuttered for roughly two months ahead of the launch, as staffers rearranged existing pieces and installed new rocket building and space suit simulations.
The giant heart isn't the only staple moving behind the scenes. The Franklin Institute's electricity exhibit is also powering down May 6 and will be incorporated into the upcoming display on the human body. The train exhibit is closed, too, but it will be rolled into a new exhibit on technology and innovation, also opening in November. That exhibit will be anchored by the Baldwin 60,000 steam locomotive, an experimental train built in 1926 in a Delaware County manufacturing plant. The gallery will also include designs by the Wright brothers and early film projectors.
The temporary disappearance of the Baldwin 60,000 steam locomotive and especially the giant heart will no doubt disappoint visitors to the museum. Originally installed in 1954, the giant heart has become such a staple of school trips that it was featured on "Abbott Elementary," in the Philadelphia-set sitcom's Season 2 finale. Fittingly, it was the site of a much-anticipated heart-to-heart between teachers Janine and Gregory.
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