Rolling in His Grave: Albert C. Barnes

Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Posted on Tue, Jun 17, 2008
Officials abandon Barnes
Commissioners decide to end fight in effort to keep art collection in county
By MARGARET GIBBONS , Times Herald Staff

COURTHOUSE — Montgomery County has abandoned its legal efforts to keep the renowned Barnes art collection in Lower Merion.

Montgomery County Commissioners Chairman James R. Matthews and Commissioner Joseph M. Hoeffel III said Monday they have decided not to appeal a ruling by county Orphan’s Court Judge Stanley R. Ott that denies the county status in the litigation.

The county last year had petitioned to intervene, with an eye toward reopening litigation that in 2004 gave the Barnes trustees approval to move the $6-billion’s worth of Impressionist art to a new but as yet unbuilt museum in Philadelphia.

The judge rejected that petition, as well as a similar petition filed by the citizens’ Friends of the Barnes, in a decision he handed down last month. The deadline for filing the appeal of that May ruling is today.

Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. repeatedly has called on his fellow two commissioners to file an appeal.

“Of course we are very disappointed with that decision,” said Nancy Herman, a spokeswoman for the Friends of the Barnes. “They had nothing to lose.”

Hoeffel disagreed with that claim.

“We do not have a reasonable expectation of reversing the four-year-old court decision allowing the Barnes to build a gallery in Philadelphia,” said Hoeffel. “Any further appeal of the recent decision denying standing for the county could bring sanctions against county taxpayers.” ....“We made a great effort but that effort resulted in failure,” said Commissioners Chairman James R. Matthews.

He cited the county’s offer last year to take out a tax-exempt bond of about $50 million, then using that money to purchase the Barnes land and buildings. The financially troubled Barnes Foundation could invest that money at a higher interest rate, using those earnings to pay the county a yearly rental fee equal to the county’s debt service, according to a plan devised by Thomas J. Ellis, the former commissioners’ chairman who is presently a bond counsel....One of the options under consideration is a proposal by Hoeffel to meet with the Foundation trustees, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Gov. Ed Rendell to discuss keeping the Barnes collection in Lower Merion.

“Our best chance of keeping the Barnes in the county is by working with the trustees but no one has been able to speak with the trustees because of the animosity that has been caused, in part, by the litigation,” said Hoeffel.

While Matthews is willing to give “discourse” a try, he said he is not optimistic that the county will be successful.

“How can you share in a treasure when you are cutting out its unique wholeness?” said Matthews, noting that not only is the art important but the building in which it is displayed and the eclectic manner in which it is displayed that is a reflection of the late Dr. Albert C. Barnes.

Castor was not available for comment Monday.

Is it too impolite to say that one thinks that Montgomery County Commissioners Matthews and Hoeffel should be tossed out of office? Naaahhh. After all, Montgomery County promised to fight to save Lower Merion's crown jewel, the Barnes Collection. That meant the County Commissioners had an obligation to the constituency of Montgomery County, right? I think Matthews and Hoeffel are behaving like a pair of losers who do nothing other then further their own best interests, and guess what? The First Amendment says I can say they are a pair of losers over the Barnes. The First Amendment also means I can say that Philadelphia is stealing Lower Merion's Art Collection and that the trustees of the Barnes are nothing more than despicable will busters. You can't wax all poetic about preservation on a county level and then just let a priceless art collection go. You can't wax all poetic about being of the people when you aren't working in the best interests of the people you were elected to represent.

They had absolutely nothing to lose by doing what Montgomery County promised over and over, other then (of course) losing our collective respect and a priceless art collection.

Republicans and Democrats alike should be ashamed of our lack of leadership and representation today thanks to Matthews and Hoeffel, right? Double shame on Joe Hoeffel, because is it or is it not true that as our former 6th district congressman, he knows full well how we feel about the Barnes?

Is this how it is going to be in Montgomery County? What's next? Are they going to sign over every other thing that makes Montgomery County unique to Philadelphia and Philadelphia County? What was it one website, maybe Writemarsh, said about "regionalism"?

Yep, Jim Matthews and Joe Hoeffel will have the forever enduring legacies of the politicians who rolled on the Barnes and the residents of Lower Merion. Nice legacy, gents.

Can it be said that from now on, anything and everything that Matthews and Hoeffel want should be opposed by everyone in Montgomery County? If you can repeal a local commissioner with some degree of difficulty, can it be accomplished with county level commissioners?

More interesting thoughts on the Barnes can be found on websites like Writemarsh. be sure to check out posts like Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Hoeffel and Matthews are Reprehensible Cowards and Monday, June 16, 2008
PRESS RELEASE FROM COMMISSIONER CASTOR
, and other articles like Montco Barnes Appeal Unlikely
By: Jeff Cobb, The Bulletin 06/16/2008, Kerns goes to the Barnes , Montco commissioners drop Barnes appeal.

Well, Lower Merion sure will look fab now, won't it? And Philadelphia, well according to some website Dezeen, could look like an amusement park on the Parkway:

dezeen.com
Dezeen: Artjail in Philadelphia
September 4th, 2007

Artjail is a satirical proposal for the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia that involves moving the famous art collection to a new building in the centre of the city and combining it with a youth prison and gambling facilities.

Be sure to check out The ArtJail Virtual Tour. Here is an excerpt of their September 2007 press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 2, 2007

Gambling in the galleries? Controversial building plan revealed for Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation.

No stranger to controversy, since it’s founding in the Philadelphia suburbs in 1922 the Barnes Foundation has been embroiled in one sort of conflict or another for most of it’s history, often thanks to the eccentricities of founder Albert C. Barnes. The unusual plan unveiled this week for a new Barnes building, which brings giant televisions, slot machines, and elaborately costumed employees to Philadelphia’s Museum Row will do little to still those troubled waters.

One of the proposal’s many radical elements is it’s inclusion of Philadelphia’s juvenile detention hall The Youth Study Center within the same structure as the Barnes Foundation’s multi-billion dollar art collection; earlier plans had called for a relocation of the Youth Study Center to West Philadelphia.

(For more of press release, click HERE)

So what's left? Is it all up to the PA Attorney General? Shall we start the pool now?