Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Barnes Maneuvering

A couple of last gasp moves to try to keep the Barnes Foundation from moving to Philadelphia.

First, Montgomery County made a $50 million plus bid to buy the Barnes property, which it would then lease back to the foundation. Details here.

Second, the Friends of the Barnes Foundation is trying to block the move by getting the museum listed as a historic landmark. See here.

It may all be too little too late:

"The Barnes Foundation has already received court approval for the move. With help from three foundations -- the Pew Charitable Trusts, Annenberg Foundation and Lenfest Foundation -- over $150 million has been raised for the new site, which would be on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, near the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Franklin Institute and Rodin Museum, among other institutions. The city of Philadelphia set aside a parcel now occupied by a city-owned youth detention center."