The Barnes Battle Rumbles On

Lawyers for both sides were back in court today in the fight to keep the Barnes Foundation from moving to Philadelphia from its home in Merion, Pa. Opponents of the move are hoping to persuade Judge Stanley Ott, who ruled four years ago to allow the move, that new developments justify new hearings on the matter.

The argument for moving the Barnes collection to a new, as yet unbuilt home in Philadelphia is that it's the only way to rescue the place from insolvency. But opponents of the move can now point to an offer from Montgomery County to purchase the Barnes land (as well as its KerFeal estate located elsewhere) for $50 million, then lease it back to the Barnes. That would provide the Barnes with a lot of badly needed operating cash. The Lower Merion township also agreed last summer to amend its zoning laws to permit more visitors to come to the Barnes, which would also mean more revenue.

But the Associated Press reports this today from the courtroom:

Attorneys for the foundation and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office, which has jurisdiction over the executors of wills, told Ott the county's financial proposal is far from guaranteed and the opponents' ideas are too little, too late.

"They come in here at the 13th hour, asserting pie-in-the-sky schemes ... that would not withstand any scrutiny," said Senior Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Barth. "Enough is enough."

Ralph Wellington, an attorney for the foundation, said the $50 million arrangement proposes that the Barnes invest the money in high-yield investments and pay back the loan with interest.

"What if the investments were unsuccessful, given the current climate? What charity could responsibly take such a risk?" he asked the judge. "This proposal does nothing other than expose the Barnes Foundation to financial ruin."

As expected, Ott did not issue his ruling today. Whatever it turns out to be, my view of the matter is one I set down in a post last March. It hasn't changed.

It simply will not be possible to "recreate" the Barnes in a much larger new building on Ben Franklin Parkway, any more than the Dulwich Picture Gallery outside London could be stuffed into the Great Turbine Hall of Tate Modern. In an era of big box museums, the Barnes is the ultimate jewel box. The financial problems of the Foundation are real, but the snatch-and-grab solution of relocating the collection to Philadelphia is no solution at all. It isn't salvation. It isn't even euthanasia. It's death by disembowelment.