The rest of the revamped three-story building, the original home of the Franklin Institute at 15 S. Seventh St., should open by late June, Croce said.
In January 2009, the museum - then known as the Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia - closed to begin a nearly $6 million overhaul of its interior, systems, and exhibition spaces. Officials said the building would reopen in the fall of 2010.
That schedule proved impossible to meet. Funds were scarce amid the nationwide fiscal crisis, installation planning was placed on the back burner, and construction moved slowly.
A series of sales of art and objects from the museum's collection - most recently Charles Willson Peale's portrait Yarrow Mamout (1819), sold to the Philadelphia Museum of Art last year - stirred considerable public concern.
The proceeds of the Mamout sale, estimated at more than $1.5 million, were used to defray the museum's debt and open the way to completion of renovations.
Croce has said that the art and artifact sales for funding renovation and repaying debt have ended and that the galleries opening Wednesday are a foreshadowing of the museum to come.
Trustee David Rasner, on the board for almost 20 years, said he was confident the museum would raise all additional funds needed for a complete opening this summer.
"But I do worry about sustainability . . . and continuity," Rasner said. "That means maintaining quality programming, maintaining quality exhibitions, maintaining quality staff, and raising the funds to make that happen. The museum has never been funded adequately. It's been on a shoestring."
