Neighbors Sue to Keep Barnes from Moving

September 5th, 2007
By Kathy Matheson
Associated Press

The Barnes Foundation acquired a downtown site for its world-renowned art collection on Wednesday, paving the way for its planned move from the suburbs to a prominent museum area in the city.

Mayor John F. Street signed legislation that authorizes the city to enter into a long-term lease with the Barnes for a site occupied by a juvenile detention facility. That building will be torn down to make way for the Barnes' new home as soon as its population can be relocated, officials said.

"This fabulous collection will be available in a way that it's never been available," Bernard Watson, chairman of the Barnes board of trustees, said at a City Hall news conference. "It is a great day for all of us."

The saga of the Barnes collection begins with Albert Barnes, a pharmaceutical magnate and art lover who died in a 1951 car crash. He left a will stipulating that his multibillion-dollar collection never be moved from its home in Lower Merion, just outside Philadelphia.

But that also made the paintings relatively inaccessible to the public. The foundation's board of trustees eventually decided they needed to move the 181 Renoirs, 69 Cezannes, 60 Matisses, 44 Picassos and thousands of other works to a spot near the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rodin Museum to avoid bankruptcy. A judge agreed and in 2004 granted them permission to deviate from Barnes' will.

The plans have generated much controversy. A group called Friends of the Barnes, which opposes the move, filed a petition last week asking the judge to reconsider his decision.

And the relocation plan for the juvenile detention facility has angered some residents in the city's East Falls section. They say officials want to use the former Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute in the neighborhood to temporarily house the youths until a permanent facility is built elsewhere in the city.

"We are not happy," said community activist Ralph Wynder, who attended the news conference and spoke afterward. "We have not had any input."

Street acknowledged that there was "some community work yet to be done." But neither he nor Watson would give a timetable for the juveniles' relocation or for a groundbreaking for the new Barnes building.

Mark Schwartz, a lawyer representing the Friends of the Barnes, said Wednesday that the lease legislation was an empty gesture. There are too many contingencies involved in moving the juvenile facility, known as the Youth Study Center, he said.

"This is positively underwhelming because that Youth Study Center is not going anywhere anytime soon," Schwartz said.

Street maintained that the Barnes will move to Philadelphia and, when it does, that it will hugely boost the city's profile, economy and tourism and hospitality industries.

"This is precisely the kind of action that distinguishes our city and our region in a special way," he said. "If you want to see it, you come to the city of Philadelphia."

The Barnes Foundation has raised more than $150 million to build its new home on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and establish an operating endowment.

The actual lease for the site will be signed soon, officials said.