Thursday, October 16, 2008

2011

From the AP: "Construction of The Barnes Foundation's new downtown home is slated to be complete by the end of 2011, a timetable that comes after years of legal battles over the future of the foundation and its multibillion-dollar art collection. Demolition of a former juvenile jail on the site is slated to begin this winter, with construction to start in fall 2009, officials announced at an event Wednesday evening. Interior work will begin after that, but no official opening date was set."

Friends of the Barnes member Robert Zaller is quoted as calling the move "a criminal conspiracy to bring about the biggest art heist since the Second World War" and vowed to keep fighting "until we stop it."

Mayor Michael Nutter said: "For all the hooting and hollering about the prospect of the Barnes coming to the parkway, there was a lot of hooting and hollering (by its neighbors) wanting them to shut down and leave. ... Sometimes you have to be a little careful what you wish for."