Barnes Visitor Policy Reversed

July 20th, 2007
By Jim Cafferty
The Bulletin

Philadelphia - Artist Henrí Matisse once called The Barnes Foundation the only sane place in America to view art.

Now regardless of whether or not the Barnes Foundation collection moves to Philadelphia, the days of sanity are clearly over.

Five years ago Montgomery County Orphan's Court Judge Stanley Ott put partial blame for the Barnes Foundation's financial crisis on Lower Merion Township and its residents.

Wednesday the captains of Lower Merion Township attempted to reverse their course and change the judge's mind about their attitude towards the world famous collection.

The LM Board of Commissioners voted to amend the township zoning code. Their change allows institutions like the Barnes (as if there is such a thing in the entire world more or less Lower Merion) 450 visitors a day, six days a week. This is an increase from the current allowance of 400 visitors a day, three days a week.

The change more than doubles the number of people the township would allow on the Barnes grounds from a theoretical 62,400 visitors a year to a theoretical 140,400 visitors a year.

This increase would gross the Foundation as much as $1.7 million a year in gate receipts.

The ordinance allows The Barnes to apply for even more visitors if necessary.

Foundation founder Dr. Albert Barnes would without doubt throw himself into a rage at even the thought that many of what LM Commissioner Brian Gordon termed "visitors and gawkers" herded into his collection.

However, it is not just township regulations but also a Court order, an order intended to uphold Dr. Barnes' indenture, which limits visitors to the Foundation. The court still must reverse that order for the LM zoning change to apply.

In his 2004 opinion expanding the Barnes' board to 15 members Judge Ott severely criticized LM Township and Barnes' neighbors declaring, "Lower Merion Township certainly bears some of the responsibility for the financial crisis. The Foundation's attempt to raise revenues by increased public access to the gallery was met with hostility, bordering on hysteria, from some of the owners of the adjacent houses."

He added, "The township reacted to the situation by imposing a series of administrative regulations that have a put a stranglehold on the Foundation's admissions policy."

Recently, an organization known as The Friends of the Barnes, a group that includes some of the neighbors to whom Ott was referring, and Montgomery County have joined forces to attempt to block the Barnes move to Philadelphia.

It is Judge Ott who the Friends and Montco must convince to reexamine and reverse his decision to allow the $3 billion art collection to move to Philadelphia.

The Barnes Foundation is fully committed to the Philadelphia move. It did not attend the commissioners' meeting where the decision to increase the number of visitors was made.

The Foundation responded to the new regulations with enthusiasm and a hearty welcome for anyone who cares to come and see flowers and trees in the arboretum.

"We welcome this increased latitude from the commissioners," Barnes Executive Director Derek Gilman announced in a statement released Thursday. "We look forward to widening access to the arboretum and developing our horticultural programs. We also welcome improved relations with our neighbors and the community in Montgomery County."

Gilman declared the revenues from the increased attendance would not be enough to reverse the financial misfortunes of the Foundation and reconsider the move of its art.

To put the edge to his point, Gilman added, "Judge Ott considered numerous alternatives to the Foundation's proposed relocation of its gallery art collection, but held that the best solution to the many financial and programmatic problems facing the Foundation was the proposed relocation. ... Judge Ott's ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania more than two years ago. The Foundation's board of trustees believes there is neither a legal basis nor a financial justification for revisiting these settled and well-reasoned decisions."

The Friends of the Barnes naturally has a different perspective.

It notes Montgomery County has recently offered to purchase the Barnes' properties for "at least" $50 million and lease them back to the Foundation. They say with the Montco offer, the new visitation rules, and the opportunities available for more grants, the Foundation's financial future can be made secure.

Dr. Walter Herman and his wife Nancy, longtime members of The Friends of the Barnes and a neighbor to the Foundation, claim Ott's comments didn't reflect the real situation the neighbors faced at the time.

They argue the number of visitors allowed at the Barnes was increased by 20,000 after they began their fight to keep buses off the street and force the Foundation to build a parking lot on its grounds.

"The traffic was not a problem once it was regulated," Dr. Herman insists. "If the administration of the Barnes had only talked with neighbors none of this would have happened. If they had used shuttle buses from the beginning it wouldn't have bothered many people. We don't want unacceptable traffic or tour buses. We want to work together and keep the Barnes where it is."

Bryn Mawr attorney Mark Schwartz represents The Friends and is the advocate in the Barnes matter for Montgomery County.

"The Barnes Trustees, in light of this decision by the township to allow more visitors, are going to have to decide if their mission is to move or to fulfill their fiduciary obligation to the indenture," he commented when asked about the commissioners' vote.

Gordon, who represents the Barnes' section of the township, insists the code change is not too little too late.

"There is no new building. The land is not yet available. The shovels are not in the ground [in Philadelphia]," he noted. "No architect will ever match the unique qualities of the gallery in Lower Merion. I think there is a real willingness to work with the Barnes to accomplish their goals. We can solve their financial problems and achieve those goals."

As to what Dr. Barnes would have wanted, Gordon shrugs that it would be best to keep the collection where Barnes meant it to be - in Merion. Unfortunately, the current regulations do not square with the financial needs of the estate and the current board "wants to expose the collection to the world."

"That's the reality," he concluded.