Barnes Judge Won't Reconsider Decision

NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania—A judge has rejected a request to hold new hearings on the Barnes Foundation's plan to move its storied collection to downtown Philadelphia, reports the New York Times via the Associated Press. Judge Stanley Ott of Montgomery County Orphans' Court ruled that the county and a citizens group called Friends of the Barnes, who had requested to be allowed to make new arguments against the move from the Philadelphia suburbs, lacked the legal standing to make such a request. Ott ruled in 2004 to permit the move, which opponents say goes against the wishes of the late Albert Barnes, who established the collection and the trust. The Barnes Foundation's president told the AP that design plans for the new gallery are well under way.