Alright! Finally some teeth and no gums! It's definitely party time over saving the Barnes. Let's hope stern words truly lead to strong action. Hey Philadelphia! Go Steal Some Other Community's Art Collection! And anything that Vince Fumo and John Street have their grubby paws in should be suspect too, right??

Montco cries 'Gross' injustice
Referring to the uproar over Eakins, a coalition voiced its complaints about the Barnes move.
By Tom Infield
Inquirer Staff Writer

Philadelphia reacted with shock and outrage in November when word leaked out that just one famous painting - Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic - was going to be sold to out-of-towners.

It therefore ought to understand the pain that Montgomery County feels at the prospect of losing the Barnes Foundation, with its hundreds of Impressionist masterpieces valued in the billions of dollars.

So say the Montgomery County commissioners. So says Lower Merion Township. So says a suburban congressman, Republican Rep. Jim Gerlach.

They joined together yesterday in what amounted to a cry of frustration. They complained that neither the Barnes Foundation nor the city's art community took seriously the county's offer last month to put up $50 million in bonds to keep the Barnes on quiet Latchs Lane in Merion and stop its move to the busier, more visible Parkway in Philadelphia.

Tom Ellis, chairman of the county commissioners, characterized the foundation's quick response by private letter - thanks, but no thanks - as "blunt."

Mark Schwartz, a lawyer hired by the county to craft legal grounds for a potential court fight, said the Barnes' response showed "back-of-the-hand arrogance."

....So what does the suburban coalition do now?

One answer was what it did yesterday: Raise its voice and hope for greater community attention.

The group argued that the $25 million that Pennsylvania taxpayers have given to facilitate the move could be saved if the museum stayed put. The county proposes to buy the museum and lease it back to the foundation to generate the income to pay off the bonds. "No cost to taxpayers," Ellis said.

Philadelphia has yet to fully deliver on its part of the deal, which is to provide the Parkway space for the move. That cost, which includes moving a juvenile detention facility, has been estimated at several million dollars. The suburban coalition contended the cost could be as high as $10 million.

Another option for the coalition is a lawsuit, which could reopen a costly, contentious fight over the will of the museum's founder, Albert Barnes. He had said the collection could never be moved. But Barnes leaders said financial problems compelled a move. The issue was settled in December 2004 in Montgomery County Orphans Court.

....Schwartz said he had found an issue that could cause Judge Stanley Ott to take a new look at the case.

In the earlier litigation, Schwartz said, museum lawyers failed to disclose that, with the aid of State Sen. Vincent Fumo (D., Phila.), backers of the Barnes move had slipped a publicly unnoticed $100 million line item into the state capital budget in 2002.

The money, which has not been appropriated but remains in the budget, would apply only to a move to Philadelphia..... Did this budget move belie that claim?