New Effort Made to Keep Art Museum From Moving

A local lawyer has made a proposal to keep the Barnes Foundation, the Merion, Pa., museum and art school that has been criticized for its planned move to Philadelphia, in Merion and says that this approach will save state taxpayers about $100-million and give the museum a $50-million endowment, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The lawyer sent a letter this week to Barnes’s board asking that it consider selling the buildings that house the art collection in Merion and the grounds to Montgomery County, Pa.

Under the proposal, the art collection would remain where it is and the Barnes Foundation would pay rent to the county by investing the profits from the sale. The county would use tax-exempt bonds to raise the money for the purchase.

Derek Gillman, executive director of the museum, had not yet received the proposal but said plans are “moving ahead” to relocate to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and a site now occupied by the city’s Youth Study Center.