MN Science Museum's Future In Doubt After Layoffs: ‘Can’t Cut Its Way To Success’

ST. PAUL, MN — The Science Museum of Minnesota will eliminate or alter 22 positions and leave 10 more unfilled as it works to close a $4.64 million budget gap, the second major round of cuts at the downtown St. Paul institution in just over a year.

The museum announced Thursday that it has adopted a balanced budget for fiscal year 2027, which began July 1. The plan includes $2.14 million in labor savings, another $1.78 million in reductions not tied to programs, such as advertising, and an end to the museum's touring exhibitions program.

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Its exhibit design and fabrication business will also be restructured. Employees who lose their jobs will receive severance, according to the museum.

Museum leaders pointed to several pressures: attendance still hasn't bounced back to where it was before the pandemic, touring exhibit revenue has dropped as other museums tighten their own budgets, and federal and state money for the museum's science and education work has been cut by nearly 80%.

The cost of maintaining its large building along the Mississippi River is also rising, the museum said.

"These are hard choices, and they affect dedicated individuals who have enabled our institution to deliver inspiring STEM learning all over the world," said Alison Brown, the museum's president and CEO.

Ken Smith, chair of the museum's board of trustees, warned that trimming costs won't be enough on its own. "The Science Museum can't cut its way to success," Smith said. "Its future now depends on investment and the support of Minnesotans who care about it."

The museum expects about $722,000 in revenue from new experiences and fundraising this fiscal year. Part of that bet is on the big screen: the museum's Omnitheater will show "Dune: Part Three" in IMAX starting Dec. 15, marking the first time in the theater's history it has screened first-run Hollywood films, according to the museum. The first two "Dune" movies are playing on the dome this weekend.

In an interview with the Pioneer Press, Brown said exhibit production and fundraising staff would be hit hardest. She told the paper that touring exhibits, which the museum rents out to other science and children's museums, once grossed $2 million to $2.5 million a year but netted only about $400,000 last year. Brown also pointed to a new museum store at the Minnesota State Fair, which netted $120,000 this summer, and said the museum could try the new "Star Wars" movie in the spring if "Dune" pays off.

Nicole Dzenowski, president of AFSCME Local 20, told the Pioneer Press that workers are frustrated by cuts coming year after year, and she questioned how the museum can draw visitors with new exhibits after cutting the people who build them.

The new round of cuts follows a 2025 restructuring in which the museum cut 43 jobs and shrank its annual operating budget from $38 million to $31 million. The museum also reduced its workforce by 15 in 2023 and cut nearly 40% of its staff during the pandemic in 2020.

Museum officials said the balanced budget doesn't solve longer-term problems, including debt payments, major capital costs for the 30-year-old building and the need to rebuild donations as public funding shrinks.

The museum, which turns 120 on Jan. 25, 2027, said it will soon announce new ways for Minnesotans to support it.