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Politics & Government

Arguments Heard in Barnes Foundation Case; No Decision Likely for a Month

No timetable was given for Judge Stanley Ott's decision.

The fight to keep the Barnes Foundation in Merion continued on Monday afternoon, as Montgomery County Orphans Court Judge Stanley Ott listened to nearly two hours of arguments both in favor of—and opposed to—the proposed relocation of the foundation to Philadelphia.

A large group of people opposing the move to Philadelphia packed the courtroom, supporting attorney Samuel Stretton’s last ditch effort to keep the foundation in Merion.

Stretton claims that Judge Ott, who presided over the 2004 hearings, did not have all the relevant information when he ruled that the foundation be relocated to Philadelphia.

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In a statement by the Friends of the Barnes Foundation, the group references the move of the vast collection to Philadelphia as commercially and politically motivated.

“The Trustees of the Barnes Foundation and the Pennsylvania Attorney General have an absolute obligation to fulfill the social contract that passes the Barnes cultural patrimony intact to future generations,” the statement reads.

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“The patrimony is the integrated, unified Merion complex that includes the art collection, the educational programs, the gallery building, and the 12-acre arboretum that embody the life's work of Dr. Barnes and his wife, Laura Barnes.”

For more on the details of the Friends of the Barnes' current argument, .

Attached to the statement were tax records, National Historical Landmark eligibility assessments, and an analysis of sustainability at the Merion location.

No timetable was given regarding Judge Ott’s decision, though a few have speculated that a decision could come down before the end of summer.

Because of the long time frame since his relevant 2004 decision, Ott could invoke the “doctrine of finality” rule.

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