Hope springs eternal among foes of the Barnes move to downtown Philadelphia. Today, Friends of the Barnes Foundation announced that Rep. Jim Gerlach and Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor have written to Pennsylvania’s new governor, Tom Corbett, opposing the use of public money for the move (and CC’ing everyone they could think of).
Former Governor Ed Rendell had offered public funding of about $47 million.
Actually, the duo wrote to Corbett’s legal counsel, Stephen S. Aichele, saying, in part:
We are writing to request your review of the continuing use of Pennsylvania taxpayer funds for the further subsidization of the controversial relocation of the Barnes art collection in Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County to the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
…the previous administration compounded our concerns – and those expressed by many of our constituents – by committing slightly more than $47 million of taxpayer funds through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Project (RACP) to building a new museum in Philadelphia. It is our understanding that approximately $38.7 million of that RACP money remains unspent.
Consequently, we are seeking your assistance in having the Corbett Administration thoroughly re-evaluate the wrong-headed decision to borrow money and compel current and future generations of Pennsylvania taxpayers to pay off the debt incurred for the unnecessary Barnes relocation project. Further, we would respectfully request that the Corbett Administration take any and all steps necessary to halt the release of additional funding for this relocation project until a review is completed.
And so on.
Fortunately, the letter avoided the problem that would damage support for the arts — saying that we couldn’t afford the price in these tight times. Rather, the letter couched its opposition this way: “…all taxpayers – deserve the peace of mind in knowing that every dollar is spent prudently on projects of widespread community support and benefit.”
Here’s a link to the letters.
Stopping the move is still a long-shot, but stranger things have happened.
Construction continues, however, as this webcam shows. Some galleries in Merion have closed (Cezanne’s Card Players, above, is no longer on view) and the rest will be closed in July.
Here’s a link to earlier thoughts on this situation, which has additional links. The subject just will not die.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Barnes Foundation