Barnes Move Opponents' Options "Exhausted"

NORRISTOWN, Pa.—Opponents of the planned move of the Barnes Foundation from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, to downtown Philadelphia have decided not to fight on in court. County officials have decided not to appeal a judge's decision to deny new hearings to reconsider his 2004 ruling allowing the foundation to move its collection. Lawyers for the county appeared before Judge Stanley R. Ott of the Montgomery County Orphans' Court in March to request that he reopen the case, arguing that contrary to his original opinion, there were options other than a move downtown to save the foundation from bankruptcy. Opponents of the move have fought to protect the wishes of founder Albert C. Barnes, who stipulated in his will that no picture in his world-class collection of artworks be lent, sold, or removed from the walls of the galleries he built for it in Merion, a suburb of Philadelphia. James R. Matthews, chairman of the Montgomery County Commissioners, said in a statement that he believes the county has “exhausted any real chance of overturning Judge Ott’s decision.”