COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA JOINT COMMITTEES ON PUBLIC PROPERTY AND PUBLIC WORKS AND PARKS, RECREATION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Tuesday, June 5, 2007 11:30 a.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE, CO-CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS BROWN, CO-CHAIR COUNCILMAN FRANK DiCICCO COUNCILMAN WILLIAM GREENLEE COUNCILMAN JACK KELLY COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO BILL 070462 - An ordinance authorizing the President of the Fairmount Park Commission, the Executive Director of Fairmount Park, and the Commissioner of Public Property, on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, to enter into a Master Ground Lease with the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development... - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2
Good morning. This is the Committee on Public Property and Public Works and Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. This will be a joint committee because of the nature of the issue at hand. I'd like to say for the record there's a quorum present: Councilman Kenney, Councilman Rizzo, Councilman Kelly, Councilwoman Tasco, Councilman Greenlee and I think Councilman DiCicco. This Committee will be co-chaired by Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown and myself. Thank you. Will the Clerk please read the title of the first bill.
Bill 070462, an ordinance authorizing the President of the Fairmount Park Commission, the Executive Director of the Fairmount Park and the Commissioner of Public Property, on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, to enter into a Master Ground Lease with the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial 3 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Development, PAID, providing for the leasing by the City to PAID of certain land and the improvements owned by the City, and under which PAID will be required to enter into a Ground Sublease between PAID and The Barnes Foundation, pursuant to which PAID will sublease the land and improvements to the Foundation for the development, construction and operation of an art education facility; authorizing the City officials to take actions necessary to accomplish the intent and purpose of this ordinance; all under certain terms and conditions.
Thank you. I'd like to call our first witness. Madam Chief.
Thank you. My name is Joyce Wilkerson. I'm Mayor Street's Chief of Staff. I'm ably assisted by our City Solicitor, Romy Diaz. Committee Chairs Clarke and Reynolds Brown and members of both 4 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Committees, good morning. As I said, I'm Joyce Wilkerson, Chief of Staff to Mayor Street. Also here today are Fairmount Park Executive Director Mark Focht, who will be submitting testimony; City Solicitor Romy Diaz; MBEC Executive Director, Carolyn Nichols; and Commerce Director, Stephanie Naidoff, all of whom are prepared to answer any questions you might have. We're all delighted to be here today to testify in support of Bill 13 070462, the next critical step in bringing the renowned Barnes collection to the City of Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Bill 070462, if approved by Council, would permit the City to lease to the Barnes Foundation the block of land between 20th and 21st Street, Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Pennsylvania Avenue, the site where the Youth Study Center currently stands. To be more precise, the legislation would authorize the execution of a Master Lease 5 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 between the City and Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development, PAID, under which PAID would then execute a sublease with the Barnes Foundation. At this point, I would like to offer an amendment to Bill 070462 inserting Exhibit A to the bill 9 consisting of the proposed Master Lease with the proposed Sublease attached to it, and I will refer to it collectively as the "agreement" in my testimony today. We have circulated these documents to Councilmembers' offices before and have also circulated summaries, and then the other day we had a briefing for Councilmembers. So the documents I'm handing in today reflect the conversations that we've had. I'll also note that the Agreement has been available in the Clerk's Office and also on the Fairmount Park Commission's website. A companion bill to this legislation, Bill No. 070463, would 6 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 change the zoning designation of the site to enable the proposed use of the site as a gallery for the Barnes collection. m. one week from today. This is truly a watershed moment for Philadelphia. As you may recall, on December 14, 2004, the day after the Barnes Foundation received court permission to move its collection to Center City, Mayor Street announced at a packed press conference the Administration's intention to provide the Foundation with the site we're discussing here today. Together, we now have opportunity to bring to Philadelphia a priceless and breathtaking collection with more than 9,000 pieces of original art, including 181 Renoirs, 69 Cezannes, as well as a number of other rare pieces. As importantly, the collection also includes rare African, Asian and Native American art, unique sculpture, antique 7 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 furniture, ironwork and delicate Green and Roman antiquities. The Barnes Foundation offer far more than a home for magnificent art, however. The Foundation was created to be an accessible institution based on the premise that art should be a part of the daily lives of all people. This mission will remain the Foundation's central purpose on the Parkway, and what a superb location for it. With heightened accessibility and greatly expanded exhibition and teaching space, the Foundation will be able to reach and inspire so many more people from all walks of life than is now possible. When one considers that the space dedicated to programming will be almost four times greater than that at the Merion facility, one begins to realize the potential of this new site. The Fairmount Park Commission recently recognized the potential value of the Barnes collection to the City and 8 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 the Parkway.
In a special meeting on May 24th, the Commission overwhelmingly voted to authorize the appropriate Park officials to sign an agreement in the event Council approves this bill. At this point, I would like to summarize the key elements of the proposed agreement. The agreement imposes no 11 financial obligation on the City or PAID. Instead, the Barnes Foundation will bear all costs, including the cost of demolishing the Youth Study Center, remediating hazardous substances and preparing the site, and constructing and operating the new facility. The City's contribution to the project is the very substantial one of making the land itself available. The site would be leased, not sold, to the Barnes Foundation through PAID for a nominal fee of $10. The term of the agreement would have two parts: The initial term that could last up to 9 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 four years and a 99-year operating term. During the initial term, the Foundation would demolish the Youth Study Center at its own expense. The initial term would begin five days after the City vacates the Youth Study Center, but not later than May 30, 2008. If for some reason the City cannot vacate the Youth Study Center by the deadline, the Foundation can give the City more time or it can terminate the agreement. After the initial term will come the 99-year operating term, during which the Foundation will build and operate its new facility. The operating term will begin once the Foundation meets a series of conditions, and it is only at that point that the construction can begin. Those conditions are meaningful and substantial. Three of the key ones include the final external design must be approved by both the Fairmount Park Commission and the Art Commission. We don't know what the design is right now. 10 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 We do know that it will be an expanded facility, but we're watching with excitement as the Foundation works to identify a world-class architect to create something truly wonderful on the Parkway. Second, the agreement requires that the Barnes Foundation address the extremely important issue of parking before construction begins. The Foundation must submit a study that provides one or more alternatives to address the parking needs for all the employees, guests and patrons of the new facility, and the study must be satisfactory to the Mayor and the President of the Fairmount Park Commission. Only after the Foundation and City approve a parking plan can construction begin, and the implementation of that solution will be done at the Foundation's expense. Third, the Foundation must satisfy the City that it has obtained 11 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 sufficient funds to complete the new facility's construction before it can begin to build the facility. There are other extremely encouraging elements of the agreement that I want to highlight. The proposed agreement includes an Economic Opportunity Plan that MBEC has reviewed and approved and characterized as aggressive in its participation goals. The EOP is Exhibit G to the Sublease. With respect to the contract opportunities, the EOP establishes the following: for construction management, a goal of at least 30 percent participation, percent by MBEs, ten 19 percent by WBEs; for the architecture, 20 engineering and other professional services, a goal of not less than 20 percent participation by minorities and not less than eight percent by WBEs and two percent by DSBEs; and for demolition and construction, the stated goals are 20 12 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 percent by MBEs, eight percent by WBEs and two percent by DSBEs. The EOP also provides workforce goal hours of 5 percent for minority persons and five 6 percent for female in the demolition, 7 environmental, remediation and 8 construction.
Further, of the 52 new 9 full-time jobs expected to be created, 10 the EOP establishes minimum employment 11 goals of 30 percent for minority persons, 12 45 percent for female and two percent for 13 disabled persons. These are highly 14 encouraging targets and we believe the 15 Barnes Foundation is to be commended for 16 stepping forward to the plate. 17 The Barnes also acknowledges 18 its responsibility to operate the 19 facility in a way that is accessible to 20 students and persons of all means. In 21 the agreement, it commits to adopting 22 rules and regulations to ensure that 23 persons of all means have affordable 24 access to the galleries displaying the 25 Barnes collection. The City will have an 13 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 opportunity to comment on those rules at least 30 days before they take effect. A key component of the Foundation mission is its commitment to arboreal education. In fact, the Arboretum and Arboretum School will continue at Merion after the move. Given the Foundation's sensitivity to environmental matters, the Foundation has committed to incorporate green building designs into the design of its new facility, including a good-faith effort to meet at least the minimum certification under the LEEDs standards. The Foundation has committed to protect the open space of the site during demolition and construction as much as feasible. During demolition, the Foundation may need to put up a security fence around the site, but once the Youth Study Center is demolished, the Foundation will reopen the front half of the site, which is currently part of Fairmount Park. 14 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 At the end of the 99-year lease, the lease would expire and the facility would become the City's property. At that time and for two years thereafter, if, and only if, the City decides to sell or lease the site, the Foundation will have the right to meet any first offer that the City receives. In effect, this will give the Barnes Foundation an opportunity to continue to operate the facility. The provision does not obligate the City ever to sell the site. All told, the agreement shows remarkable sensitivity to the Barnes Foundation's part to the neighborhood and residents nearby and to the special character and importance of the Parkway and to our concerns about design accessibility and exclusiveness. The agreement will provide the assurance of site control that the Foundation needs now to move forward while protecting the City's interest. And representatives 15 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 from the Barnes Foundation are here to discuss that in more detail. As inspiring as this project is for our hearts and minds, it's equally exciting from the perspective of economic development and the opportunity it represents to further enhance Philadelphia's reputation as a cultural destination. And I won't go into that. We have representatives here from GPTMC and other organizations that are prepared to address those issues in more detail. In addition to being a world-class attraction in its own right, the Barnes, as the newest addition to the cultural institutions along the Parkway, will create an even stronger synergy among those other great institutions. Looking ahead and in anticipation of this incredible growth and development, we will continue to improve the pedestrian conditions along the Parkway with implementation of the Fairmount Park's design guidelines and 16 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 other streetscape improvements. Other cities can only dream about the cultural education and recreational resources that we possess on the Parkway. We envision the Barnes' relocation to Philadelphia as a giant step in making Philadelphia truly one of the world's great cities. " With City Council's approval, we'll be poised to welcome a new inspiring neighbor to Philadelphia, one that enriches generations across the decades.
I respectfully urge the joint Committees to vote Bill 070462 out of the Committee with a favorable recommendation and I ask that there be a suspension of the rules to allow for first reading at the next session of Council. I'd be happy to answer any questions or pass them off to Mr. Diaz or some of the other Administration people who are here.
Thank you. 17 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Mr. Diaz, are you testifying?
Briefly, I know there are a number of questions. Ms. Wilkerson, you referenced the parking plan and you talked about the fact that it must be approved by Fairmount Park, the Mayor and the Foundation. What role will City Council play, particularly the District Councilperson?
We anticipate working closely. The parking issue was framed most clearly by you as Councilperson to the Fifth District, although there is no explicit provision in the documents for Council approval.
That's correct, Councilman Clarke. There are ten conditions precedent; in other words, ten conditions that have to be met by the 18 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Barnes Foundation before the so-called initial term is completed and an operating term of 99 years can commence. One of those ten conditions precedent is that a parking plan has to be presented which is acceptable to both the Mayor and the President of Fairmount Park Commission will accept it, and presumably as part of the outreach to the community and working with you, as I believe we have already initiated, that process, I would expect that to continue in cooperation with you and your office. After the plan has been presented and accepted by the Mayor and the President of Fairmount Park Commission, there has to be approval by the City and the Barnes Foundation in connection with the implementation of particular alternatives in that plan for addressing parking by employees and patrons and guests of the Barnes Foundation going forward. So I think there will be ample 19 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 opportunity for that consultation with you and your constituents, and it's certainly our anticipation that we will work closely with you and looking forward to those approvals of the plan and the options that would be implemented thereafter.
Then you don't have a problem with incorporating the language that references consultation with City Council, understanding that your preference is not to have us in the approval process, and I'm not sure I want to be in that position.
I don't think there's any objection. I only hesitated because the Master Lease and, more particularly, the Sublease which are attached were the subject of extensive negotiations between the City and the Barnes Foundation attorneys, but I'm sure that with their agreement, we'd be happy to incorporate that provision as well.
I only 20 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 reference that because that's one of the biggest issues with respect to the surrounding community, the impact on parking and pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. One of the issues that I would like information about is the proposed budget for the closure of the Youth Study Center, the situation with temporary versus permanent housing, how much it's going to cost to accomplish that, because I believe that's on us. So could you please explain the process of the relocation of the Youth Study Center?
Over the course of the last year when it became clear that we weren't going to be able to move to a permanent site in a timely way, we 21 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 began surveying for appropriate alternative sites. We've identified two. We have not reached a final negotiation with the owner of either site, so we don't have a specific budget that we can present. Part of the costs will be offset by lease payments that are reimbursed by the Commonwealth, but there will be some expense to the City. We don't have a firm number on that yet. We'll work closely with Council so that to the extent there is exposure for the City, you will know about that.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is probably one of the few and pleasant times in the course of our business that we run into a no-brainer. I mean, there's nothing within this lease 22 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 or the potential that it's going to bring to the Parkway and the City that should ever slow this down a second. The question I have is relative to discussions on the design of the building. Has it been determined or discussed whether or not this building will be a more modern type of stand-out iconic building or something that would be more likely to blend in to what the Parkway's architectural design scheme is now?
I'd like to call -- I don't think we're the best people to offer that testimony. We have representatives from the Barnes who can talk both about the program and the vision for the building. We also have --
If you look at other famous art collection and buildings, there are things like the New York Museum of Art but also the new MoMA. So I'm just trying to get an idea on what the Foundation people are thinking. Is 23 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 this something that pops out of the Parkway, wow, or is this something that kind of blends in with the architecture that's there?
If you can wait, then we will -- I'm sure they can address it much more.
I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I'm sure there's schools of thought on both sides, whether or not this is something that we need to maintain the look of the Parkway or it's something that needs to be a wow factor that really pops out. But I was just curious as to where their heads were.
Thank you. 24 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462
Thank you. Ms. Wilkerson, on the EOP plan I know you submitted earlier to a number of members, the numbers again on the construction phase?
For the construction management, it's 30 percent participation, percent by MBEs, ten 10 percent by WBEs. For architecture and 11 engineering and other professional 12 services, the goal is not less than 20 13 percent participation by MBEs, not less 14 than eight percent participation by WBEs 15 and two percent by DSBEs. For demolition 16 and construction, the goals are 20 17 percent participation by MBEs and eight 18 percent by WBEs, two percent for persons 19 with disabilities. And then we have 20 workforce hour goals, which provide 25 percent for minority persons, five percent for female. And then I spoke of the goals once the property moves into operation, once the Foundation moves into its operation phase. 25 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462
We have looked at all the numbers, think that they in some instances in fact are very aggressive numbers. And we can have the MBEC work more closely, but we were satisfied that the goals were in fact aggressive. One of the things that I find particularly encouraging is very often we'll come to this hearing and there won't be anything. The minority participation will be something that we want to append later on. This is an instance where the representatives from the Barnes came to the table with a plan that in some respects is very aggressive, and we want to acknowledge that they did that. I think we're comfortable that they will make a good-faith effort to achieve at least this and we'll work with them to do better than that.
What were 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 the numbers on the stadiums?
I don't have those in front of me. I can get you a report on what other projects have articulated as a goal and in fact have accomplished, but I don't have those in front of me right now.
All right. I know that the numbers were higher, and this is not necessarily a comparable project in size, but it is, to a large degree, a privately financed development, and personally my contention is if we can aggressively suggest to the Phillies and the Eagles that they do numbers in the 30's, I think that we should, at a minimum, have that level of discussion with the Barnes Foundation.
So I would like you to re-address those numbers. I think we can do a little better.
We will talk 27 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 with the representatives from the Barnes and put a sharper pencil on those numbers and get back to you.
If I can just add one more thing, Councilman, one of the things that frequently you will see when we do have an Economic Opportunity Plan appended to a bill is that the focus will be on construction and contracting. What is I think noteworthy here is that in addition to those two participation ranges, included in the EOP we actually have permanent employment ranges for the Barnes Foundation and the Museum, which is beyond what we normally would anticipate with an EOP. So in that way in particular, we would also consider this to be aggressive. But as the Chief indicated, we certainly will go back and talk to the Barnes about it.
I only asked about the construction, so I wasn't referencing and I appreciate the fact 28 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 that they were being very proactive in this approach, but I just think the construction numbers are relatively low.
We will work on that and before first reading get back to you.
Thank you. Councilman DiCicco. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, Ms. Wilkerson. In relationship to Councilman Rizzo's question, I may have misunderstood you. You mentioned one or two sites. Are they temporary sites you were referring to?
We're looking at them as temporary sites. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Notwithstanding everything in your testimony -- and certainly I support this project -- if all the issues in your testimony are addressed and resolved, nothing will happen until we have a permanent facility for the Youth Study 29 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Center to be relocated to?
No. We would be prepared to move out on a temporary basis, allowing this project to move forward while -- even if we were to have a permanent site tomorrow, the construction of a permanent project will take at least two years, and so we have worked to identify something that can be a temporary site. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Where are we with negotiations on the permanent site that has been recommended in Councilwoman Blackwell's district?
I don't have anything new to report on that. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: She is still not accepting that as a site?
I have not had -- I don't want to characterize her current position, but I don't have anything new to report on that. I know that there have been concerns expressed about providing resources for a 30 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 neighborhood that is absorbing -- that would be absorbing a Youth Study Center use, and I have not talked with her recently about that. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Do we have a cost estimate for the permanent Youth Study Center facility if it were to be built? Do we know what that will cost, approximately?
The construction portion of it, the mid to high 50 million. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: And the Barnes Foundation facility will cost about how much to build?
It was 150 million, 50 of that is in endowment and 100 million is the cost of construction. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: So between the two facilities, we have about $200 million in construction?
That's correct. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: And no 25 resolution on the permanent site yet? 31 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462
Correct. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. No further questions.
Ms. Wilkerson, there must be at least an estimate for the temporary move. There's got to be. So could you tell us what the temporary -- there must be some number to support what a temporary move is going to cost since we can't make it to a permanent facility. There's got to be some number.
Five to seven million dollars would be a pure guesstimate, though. There are -- that's a guesstimate.
Councilman Kenney. 32 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462
Thank you. Just tongue-in-cheek, if you want to speed the process up on the permanent site, maybe you could find an at-large member willing to introduce the legislation, tongue-in-cheek. Let me go back to the EOP numbers again and following on Councilman Clarke's line of questioning. Are we talking on construction numbers employees or contractors? Because it's easy to create a minority contractor that doesn't employ minorities.
Are you talking about bodies on the scaffold or names on a contract?
In connection with the construction employment opportunities, we're talking about good-faith and non-discriminatory efforts to actually do the employment, and the general contractor is to reference the 33 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 work hour goals in all of its subcontracts. So we're talking about both. In terms of the contract opportunities, we're talking about the construction management as one grouping. We're talking about architecture and engineering and other professional services as another grouping of contracting efforts, and then separately we've talked about construction both as to contracting as well as employees and building operations. So we're talking about significant construction employment opportunities focused on bodies and hours and contracting opportunities that are related to construction as well.
Certainly I would like to see both the contractors and the employees, those goals met, but I would rather have a non-minority contractor who is going to meet the goals of the workforce if I can't do both, 34 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 because if I have minority participation with one person in name only as a contractor and the majority of the people that are on those scaffoldings or pulling those wheelbarrows or doing the cement are white guys from the suburbs, I don't think it gets us anywhere. And unless I can get partnerships with the School District, Urban Affairs Coalition, those organizations that have traditionally helped minorities access these type of jobs, I am going to be skeptical as to what the success is going to be, because I don't think the success was that great on the stadiums. Perhaps numbers-wise and contract-wise we may have been able to make a case, but when I go through the parking lot and they're all Jersey tags, it just doesn't do us any good.
I hear you, Councilman Kenney. I would also point out that there is an Oversight Committee which is to be established as part of the Economic Opportunity Plan. I believe 35 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 there will be not only an opportunity for consultation between the Minority Business Enterprise Council and the City and others with the Barnes Foundation as they move forward, but the Foundation has also committed to establishing an Oversight Committee to meet and review all phases of the project. Clearly, these are issues that will be looked at in a commonsense way so that the results are what we are looking for, not technical compliance with the letter of the agreement.
I think it would be appropriate considering Dr. Barnes' efforts in his life work that this be the break-through project where we actually get kids from Philadelphia who happen to be minority in steel-toed work boots and hard hats for a long-term employment, not just meeting some goals. So I would urge you to make sure that that happens, and I'm sure Councilman Clarke and some others will follow that 36 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 progress, but I just wanted to state it for the record, because I think sometimes we make an effort to comply to the letter of the law, not the spirit. Thank you. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Councilman, one quick follow-up.
Councilman DiCicco. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. In relationship to --
I'm sorry, Councilman. Councilwoman Brown. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: I didn't see your light. I apologize.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Councilman Jim Kenney's remarks need to be in bold letters, underscored with exclamation points, because we've heard before with projects of this scale what's called good-faith effort and then midway down the road, we discover the 37 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 kinds of observations that Councilman Jim Kenney has put on the record. So to that, I'm curious to know who the members of the Oversight Committee might be, any consideration, provisions given to specifically Philadelphia residents, which is another concern that's raised repeatedly here, and provisions or considerations given specifically to Philadelphia-based firms?
In connection with the Oversight Committee insofar as the EOP is concerned -- and this is, again, Appendix G to the Sublease, Councilwoman -- the Oversight Committee is to include representatives of the Foundation, the Fairmount Park Commission, the general contractor. There is an expressed provision that the Foundation will contract with the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition to assist the Foundation and the project Oversight Committee in monitoring and reporting for the project. 38 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 I don't know that particular names have been put forward in connection with members of the Oversight Committee, but I think there is a clear express and legal commitment, as I read it, on the part of the Foundation, the City and the Fairmount Park Commission to find representatives who will not only be committed to the spirit of this, but who are going to help us to monitor and report and ensure compliance with the EOP on an ongoing basis.
To Councilman Jim Kenney's report regarding the School District?
Well, it isn't identified, but certainly there's no 19 reason why we couldn't incorporate those representatives as well.
So does that call for a formal amendment to this document or can that be handled in another way so to ensure the involvement of the Philadelphia public school system? 39 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462
I don't think there's a need to amend the document. I think when we talk about the City, I think that's expansive enough that we would understand that to incorporate the School District representatives, and I'm sure that working with the Foundation we can make that happen.
You're welcome, Madam Co-Chair. Oversight Committee, I noticed that there is not a representative from City Council.
Again, I sometimes have to be reminded that as counsel to the City, sometimes that's at variance with counsel to City Council. I believe that City as used here is sufficiently expansive as to include City Council. If there's a desire to have an expressed provision relating to City Council, I don't believe that that would be an issue 40 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 with representatives of the Barnes Foundation.
We're all the City, but we're different branches of government.
I think that would be consistent with what we've done on most major projects. I think City Council has had a representative on those committees that attends the monthly meetings.
Thank you. Councilman DiCicco. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The temporary facilities for the Youth Study Center, are you at liberty to tell us where those sites are?
No. 24 COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: I didn't think so. Okay. Thank you. They're not 41 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 at the SugarHouse or Foxwoods site, are they?
Just following up on Councilman DiCicco's question relative to the temporary sites, is there a possibility we would be sending some of these young people out of the state?
So the situation of having this protracted issue on the permanent site won't wind up running up a bill of enormous proportions for temporary housing? 42 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462
Again, I want to go back at that. Five to seven for the temporary site.
Okay. Guesstimate. So we'll make it ten since it's a lowball maybe.
Yeah. I will communicate with Council as soon as the numbers are refined.
I think it would be helpful if we could figure out a way to avoid spending a guesstimate and finding a permanent site, but I think also we need to know where these two locations could be and we need them during the course of this hearing, at 43 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 least I would like that, to know where you plan to put these temporary facilities, because we have an obligation to our constituents to know where you plan to put this temporary facility.
Well, that will certainly affect my decision here. Thank you.
Any other questions for these witnesses? (No response.)
If we could ask representatives of the Barnes Foundation to please come to the witness table, Derek Watson and Derek Gillman. Please forgive our inaccurate record up here, Dr. Bernard Watson. So if you would please state your names for the record and proceed 44 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 with your testimony.
I am Bernard Watson and I am the Chair of the Barnes Foundation. Madam Chair and Co-Chair and members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to present. I joined the Barnes Foundation in 1999. I was elected to the Board in September. I became Chair in December of that year. And as those of you that watch this, you know that we came from a Board of five to now a Board that's authorized as 15. We came from a distressed financial situation to the point where we are now able to say to you that we've raised enough money to build a $100 million building and $50 million for an endowment, and we're actively engaged in raising an additional $50 million for this project. I want to thank the Council and the Administration and the Fairmount Park Commission and everyone else who has been supportive of us in this long journey to 45 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 bring this world-class operation where it belongs, which is on the Parkway, where it will be able to carry out Dr. Barnes' vision of what should happen, that art should be available to everybody, that it affects our everyday lives and, in his own words, that it would be available to plain people, and he defined plain people as those who go to work every morning in the factories and the offices of Philadelphia. Let me make a few points, and I will be brief. I believe it would be important for you to understand that this world-class collection, which has no peer anywhere on earth, will now be available to ordinary people at a cost that they can afford. The Barnes Foundation is primarily an educational institution, although we have the world's greatest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art. In our new facility, which will be located at the site which you are considering making 46 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 available to us, we will have not only the gallery for this world-class collection but also classrooms and other facilities that will be available to the school children and the youth of this City, to ordinary people and in an environment where they can be exposed to it, learn about it and carry out, again, Dr. Barnes' vision of having it available to plain people. You should also know that as we move forward to answer some of your questions about the size of the building and the nature of the building, we have engaged in a worldwide competition of architects to design this building. That number of architects has been now reduced from 30 to six, and our Building Committee, chaired by Aileen Roberts, who is here, has been very diligent in pursuing this effort. They have been all over the world where these architects have designed buildings so that they can look at them, get the feel of them, talk 47 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 to the people who use them and see how they work. And we have an aggressive plan to move forward and we will have the architect selected by August of this year, and at that point, we can answer the kinds of questions, which are appropriate questions, that we can raise. We want it to be not a wow factor or something unusual that stands out, but we want it to be a part of what I describe as America's Champs Elysee, which is the Parkway, and you look down that Parkway from the Fairmount Art Museum to City Hall and you see that as a jewel, and we will become a part of that and we're delighted to be here able to do that. You should also know that in addition to making the facility and the art available to ordinary people at prices they can afford, in our fundraising we have funds that are committed to providing that kind of subsidy for school children and for others who may not be able to afford that 48 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 and at a price that is available for ordinary people.
You should also know that Lincoln University is our partner in putting together a program that will provide three degrees for this HBCU, this historically black university, so that they will be able to offer degrees so that we can increase the number of minorities in the pipeline who go into the business of running museums and providing all of the other kinds of services that we provide in this area. We intend to be a very good neighbor. We have a very diverse Board. As a matter of fact, we have the most diverse Board of any major arts institution in America, and we intend to have an employment force which is just as diverse. And as you have indicated, you want an aggressive attempt on minority and women participation, and we're going to be aggressive in that. We're aggressive now. We came forward with 49 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 that without prompting, and we intend to work with the existing institutions to help us not only meet those goals but, if it's possible, to exceed those goals. I understand exactly the point that you made about working. I used to belong to a construction union, started when I was 15, and I know how those games get played, worked there all my life at a time when it was not possible to move from those laboring jobs even when you had the skill to go up and I know a little about the games that get played in that, and we're not going to have it. And you should know also that in terms of informed instruction about how to proceed with this, one of the members of the Board of Trustees of the Barnes Foundation is Agnes Gund, who is the Chair of the Board that built MoMA in New York. We intend to bring the best advice, the best intelligence that we can get to make this something not only that the Barnes Foundation is proud of but 50 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 something which the City of Philadelphia and its environs would be proud of. And I thank you for the opportunity of presenting this to you today. Sitting to my left is Derek Gillman, our President and CEO. I have members of the Board here. We have Aileen Roberts, who is an architect herself and who is the Chair of our Building Committee. And that is the hardest working committee I have ever seen, and we intend to make you proud of what we bring to the Parkway and to become your partners as we move forward.
Could we please ask her to please stand. (Ms. Aileen Roberts stood.)
And one of my other Board members is the Honorable Jackie Allen, who is a Common Pleas Court judge and a graduate of Lincoln University. 51 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 And is Shelly still here? He's gone. So thank you very much. I'll be happy to entertain any questions. And I would beg your indulgence. I flew up here from Florida to make this presentation and answer any questions and I have a flight at 1 o'clock. So I'd be happy to answer any questions that you might have.
Thank you, Dr. Anderson. I have two questions, actually.
Excuse me, Madam 52 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Councilperson --
I'm sorry. I used to work for Dave Richardson and you were --
I just have a couple questions about the parking. How many spaces are you estimating that you're going to need for parking?
I can't answer that until we are further along with the architects and how that's going to look on the configuration, but we know that that is a requirement and a consideration.
And it's actually probably very, very important to what's already there. 53 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 And the other question I have is regarding the 52 new permanent jobs. What types of jobs will they be? Does anybody know?
There are people who are expert in that, but I can tell you one thing, I will be a part of the Oversight Committee and we will see to it that the kinds of goals that were designated earlier today are met and hopefully exceeded, and we will have not only the permanent jobs as that goal, but the construction jobs and the jobs that are in place at the Barnes Foundation. We're serious about making this operation as diverse as it can be, just as our Board is.
Is there anyone here from the Barnes that can talk 54 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 about the specific --
-- make some comments. I'm Derek Gillman. I'm the Executive Director and President to the Barnes Foundation. And I would like to thank City Council men and women for allowing us to come before you to consider this ordinance. Just to answer the Councilwoman's question about the types of positions, amongst the positions which will be added will be education positions, but also add positions in other areas of professional activity 55 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 within the art education and art professional area, like conservation, curatorial, but also because of the nature of the facility, there will be more people engaged in visitor services and general services. The idea is, of course, to make the Foundation truly welcoming, and to do that we will indeed need a star of which fits with the scale of the new facility. Does that help with that question?
If I could make a -- with your indulgence, may I make a few comments to add on to Dr. Watson's?
There's a degree of overlap between the two of us. It's the nature of the Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to promote the advancement of education and appreciation of the fine 56 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 arts, but Barnes was passionate about contemporary art and about helping us to understand and appreciate it. When he formed his collection, it was too easy for people to dismiss the extraordinary talents of Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani and Soutine. They preferred often earlier and safe art. Dr. Barnes' mission and his method was to help people see the value of those painters he collected and especially those individuals without formal training in art appreciation. And it's sometimes easy to forget this now, because the painters who we've heard who are in the Barnes are now regarded as the old masters of modern art. But Barnes' purpose was to make these often difficult paintings available to students for study and discussion, and in consequence, the Barnes Foundation is an art education facility and institution rather than an art museum as such. It was an experiment where ordinary people were urged to make 57 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 sense of the newest and most challenging art and to relate it to art of previous generations. Beyond that, Albert Barnes wished the students to bring what they had learned in their daily lives, as did the philosophy John Dewey, a long-standing friend and the first Director of Education at the Barnes. On the days when there weren't classes, the Foundation was open to visitors. Albert Barnes wanted to ensure that people of all means had access to the collection and the opportunity to see great modern art. We shall certainly try to realize that vision of creating opportunities for aesthetic experience by the public of all classes and stations in life, as he himself put it. Indeed, the Foundation was established according to John Dewey's educational ideals of democracy education and educational method, and the Foundation is very clear about that in its founding documents. 58 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Dewey believed in equal opportunities for all and in the importance of individual experience. So we want all Philadelphian children from whatever their backgrounds to be offered the opportunity to experience and to learn about great art. We shall indeed deliver the traditional Barnes classes within the Parkway galleries replicated from Merion, as mandated by Judge Ott. We shall provide educational opportunities dreamt over the 1920s with the new classrooms and an auditorium. And this will also help us deliver our contribution to the new degree program that Dr. Watson talked about in individual arts offered by Lincoln University. This is a collaboration which will bring to fruition the dream of encouraging study of the fine arts by African-American undergraduates, a dream first thought about by Albert Barnes and Horace Mann 59 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Bond more than 50 years ago. We hope thereby to become a leader in the field of art education and also to increase the diversity of that field within the United States, a point which is related to the questions about the Equal Opportunity Plan raised by Councilman Kenney. The building will also contain a splendid conservation studio, curatorial education offices, as well as spaces for a restaurant and a store. It will have a gallery for special exhibitions, which will include contemporary art, drawing on Albert Barnes' passion for communicating the value and significance of new art. He was an early collector of the self-taught painter Horace Pippin, and I don't doubt that we shall want to mount exhibitions on the Parkway that lead to a greater understanding and appreciation of African-American art.
One thing that's crucial to the Parkway location, which I don't think 60 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 we've dealt with quite yet, will be the landscaping. His wife, Albert Barnes' wife, Laura Barnes, was responsible for developing Captain Lapsley Wilson's arboretum, and under the name of the Barnes Arboretum, making it a serious center for horticultural study. Mrs. Barnes had a great grasp of landscape and garden design, as well as horticultural science, and the Board and I will ensure that there will be a marvelous landscaped environment on the Parkway site. There are many authorities to help with this task, not least those who work at our own Arboretum in Merion, at the Horticultural Society and at the Fairmount Park Commission. And, finally, word about the process. Dr. Watson noted that we've short-listed some marvelous firms, six architectural practices, who are now visiting Merion and the Parkway. In turn, we are looking at their buildings, and we will announce a successful 61 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 candidate at the end of this summer. We are being guided in this process by the Director of the Pritzker Prize. Whatever architect is chosen, we have every confidence that the new building will make a great contribution to the landscape of Philadelphia. As the Chairman of the Board, as Dr. Watson has previously indicated, our intention is to open the new building towards the end of 2009. With my thanks to you for your consideration, I'll take any further questions.
Thank you. Any questions of this witness? (No response.)
There being none, thank you very much for your testimony. Mr. Focht, are you testifying?
I thought you were going to be with Ms. Wilkerson. 62 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Please come forward.
Good afternoon, Chairwoman Reynolds Brown and Chairman Clarke and members of the Committee. I am Mark Focht, the Executive Director of the Fairmount Park Commission, and I am pleased to appear before you today on behalf of the Fairmount Park Commission to testify in strong support of Council Bill No. 070462. The bill, as you know, will allow the City, through the Fairmount Park Commission and Public Property Department, to enter into a Master Ground Lease with the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development, PAID, for the parcel of land located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway between 20th and 21st Streets and extending to Pennsylvania Avenue. Under the Master Ground Lease, PAID will be required to enter into a Ground Sublease with the Barnes 63 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Foundation for the development, construction and operation of a gallery to display the world-renowned Barnes collection and art education facility. In addition to City Solicitor Diaz, who was here previously, I would like to acknowledge Lawrence Copeland from the Law Department, who spent countless hours working with the Barnes Foundation in negotiating this agreement and ultimately bringing it to fruition. The addition of the Barnes collection and education facility on the Parkway positions the Parkway as a globally significant center for arts and culture. Standing in proximity to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Rodin Museum and other institutions and sculptures along the Parkway, the inclusion of the Barnes art collection to the City's cultural corridor will make the Parkway not only a desired destination for the arts but an essential destination and firmly place the Parkway 64 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 among the world's greatest cultural centers. Under the terms of the Sublease between PAID and the Barnes Foundation, the Barnes Foundation will be required to demolish the Youth Study Center currently located on the premises, without cost to the City or PAID. The new gallery and art education facility will be constructed, maintained and operated at the sole cost of the Barnes Foundation. Under the Sublease, the Barnes Foundation may not begin construction without satisfactory evidence of sufficient funding to complete construction of the facility. Further, prior to construction, the Barnes Foundation, as you have heard, must provide a parking plan satisfactory to the Park Commission and the City. In addition, the Fairmount Park Commission and the Art Commission will have approval over the exterior design of both the facility and the grounds. 65 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Although the City stands to benefit economically from this new facility, the benefit to the City will extend beyond dollars. The Barnes Foundation will make rules and regulations to ensure that persons of all means have affordable access to the galleries in the new facility, and located in its new home the Barnes collection will be readily accessible to persons of all means. Visitors and community residents alike will also benefit from improvements to the landscape and grounds surrounding the new facility. Together with the improvements being made at the Rodin Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and our recently completed landscape improvements at Logan Square, this project will further add luster to the already thriving Parkway. In continuing our role as stewards of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway since its inception, the Fairmount Park 66 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Commission two weeks ago enthusiastically passed a resolution approving the agreement before you today with the Foundation because the Commission believes that the Barnes Foundation's new facility promises to be a wonderful addition to the Parkway and an enhancement to the entire Fairmount Park system.
It is with great satisfaction that I appear before you today to pledge the wholehearted support of the Fairmount Park Commission and staff for this legislation and respectfully ask City Council for approval of Bill 070462. I would also like to thank all the Commissioners and staff of Fairmount Park, the Law and Commerce Department, the Mayor's Office and the Barnes Foundation for their hard work and diligence in making this project become a reality. I also ask that the rules be suspended so this ordinance may be passed 67 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 upon the second reading of Council, and I'd be pleased to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Focht. Any questions of the witness from the Committee? (No response.)
There being none, thank you very much for your testimony.
We call up Tom Muldoon for the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau and Denise Earley from the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, please. Thank you. Please proceed.
Good afternoon. I'm Fred Smith, the Vice-President of Tourism for the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, and on behalf of Tom Muldoon, the President, I'd like to 68 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 submit testimony or a statement to Council.
Good afternoon, Chairman Clarke and Chairwoman Reynolds Brown and members of the Committee. For the record, I am Denise Earley from the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and I am pleased to be here this afternoon to offer support for City Council Bill 070462 creating a Master Ground Lease and Sublease which would bring the Barnes Foundation one step closer to Philadelphia. The Chamber has always been supportive of the effort to move the Barnes Foundation art collection to Philadelphia. We believe that this is a regional issue and will allow the collection to be viewed by many more individuals than present conditions allow. Dr. Barnes wanted art to 69 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 inspire the common man. This relocation of the collection will provide better access to the common man. Dr. Barnes was adamant that plain people; that is, men and women who gain their livelihood by daily toil, should have free access to the art gallery. The current location has limited access and limited space. The limited space restricts access to approximately 1,200 visitors per week to experience one of the finest art collections in the world. Barnes' art is a world treasure, and Barnes' vision of using art to bring people together is not being truly fulfilled at its current location. Having the Barnes join such treasured company as the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Franklin Institute, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rodin Museum along the Parkway would truly place our City among the great venues worldwide. 70 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 The proposed site on the Parkway can be developed in a way to protect the integrity of the collection as well as the manner in which Dr. Barnes wanted it displayed to the public. His treasure can be situated in a way that will make a truly educational experience for all of our citizens. In addition, the move will have a positive impact on tourism in Philadelphia. The relocation of the Barnes Foundation collection is a win-win situation for all parties. Such a move will raise the profile of the Foundation and expose it to a wider audience, as well as enhance the institutions and businesses along the Parkway. Again, the Chamber supports Bill 070462, and thank you for the opportunity.
Thank you. Any questions of these witnesses by members of the Committee? (No response.) 71 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462
There being none, thank you so much for your testimony.
Next I'd like to have the representatives from the Franklin Institute, the Art Museum and the Free Library Foundation.
Good afternoon. Councilmembers of the joint Committees on Public Property and Public Works and Public Recreation and Cultural Affairs, thank you for giving me the opportunity to appear before you. My name is Linda Johnson. I am the Chief Executive Officer of the Free Library Foundation, which through a lease agreement with Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development is the developer of the new Central Library. I am here today on behalf of the Free Library to formally offer support and express enthusiasm for the Barnes Foundation's plan to build a new 72 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 world-class facility on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It is my pleasure to say to everybody at the Barnes Foundation, Welcome to the neighborhood. The Parkway is undergoing a 21st century renaissance, and the presence of the Barnes Foundation is certain to improve upon a thriving atmosphere centering upon arts and knowledge. With a new Center City home for its educational programs and its exceptional collections of impressionist, post-impressionist and early modern paintings, the Barnes Foundation will be well positioned to carry out its mission of promoting education and appreciation of fine art, while simultaneously benefiting from and enhancing the area's cultural vitality. Additionally, the construction of a new Barnes Foundation facility, in conjunction with our own Central Library renovation and expansion project, will bring a new level of great architecture 73 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 to the cultural corridor of the Parkway. Moshe Safdie, world-renowned architect and designer of the Central Library's expansion project, will work with whichever of the six highly respected architectural firms the Barnes Foundation selects from its short list. We at the Central Library are looking forward to having the Barnes Foundation as a neighbor. As both institutions are similarly focused on education and community enrichment, we anticipate exciting opportunities to coordinate programming that will capitalize on our new proximity. We also look forward to working with the Barnes Foundation on coordinating logistical matters of mutual concern, such as transportation, parking, landscaping and food service. The Central Library's plan to offer a new Visitors Center for all Parkway institutions will support the Barnes Foundation as well. In short, this is an exciting 74 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 time in the revitalization of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and we are thrilled the Barnes Foundation will soon be part of it. Thank you.
You mention in your testimony -- I'm actually looking for a copy -- discussion given to, and I quote, "coordinating programming in a number of different areas." What has been the nature of your discussions thus far with the Barnes representatives?
To date we've merely begun to explore the various opportunities. Obviously the Barnes has been focused on securing its site, but we're very hopeful that we'll be continuing those discussions on matters such as parking, which we know are of grand concern to City Council, as well as various educational opportunities. We both provide education about art. The Library has a very strong art department, 75 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 prints and pictures department, and I'm quite certain that we will be able to enhance each other's educational mission.
Does the Free Library Foundation already have any type of partnerships with any of the neighbor institutions on the Parkway in the area you just described?
Not yet, but the Library is very focused these days on working collaboratively with other cultural institutions in the City.
We've been talking to WHYY, but there are many opportunities which we're just beginning to explore.
So you say the Free Library and then I hear the Free Library Foundation. Describe for us the distinction between the two.
The Foundation is actually the arm that is responsible for the expansion and the renovation of the 76 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Library and is also a private 501(c)(3) which raises money to augment the operating budget that comes from the City to the Library and the 54 branches. I would also just add that our One Book, One Philadelphia program, which is a program funded by the Foundation, has 400 partners throughout the City, so working collaboratively with other cultural institutions in the City is not something that will be new to us.
Chairwoman Reynolds Brown and distinguished members of the joint Committees on Public Property, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, my name is Bart Bronk. I'm the Director of Institutional Giving and Government Relations for the Franklin Institute pleased to represent Dennis Wint, who 77 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 could not be here today, our President and CEO. As an anchor institution of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and future neighbor of the Barnes Foundation, the Franklin Institute enthusiastically endorses Bill 070462. The Benjamin Franklin Parkway is truly the cultural backbone of the City of Philadelphia, with attractions like the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Rodin, the Free Library and the Franklin Institute, which together attract, educate and amaze millions of visitors, including hundreds of thousands of school children each year. What better home for the inspiring treasures that are contained within the Barnes collection. Indeed, through the addition of the Barnes Foundation and through other notable projects, including the proposed expansions of the Art Museum, the Free Library and the Franklin Institute, the 78 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Parkway will come ever closer to meeting its creator's original vision of an unequalled cultural boulevard. Further, I encourage you to consider the economic benefit that is driven by the arts and culture community in Philadelphia. As employers, tax generators and tourism-spending drivers, cultural organizations contribute significantly to Philadelphia's economy. Adding such a distinguished and noteworthy institute as the Barnes to the City's portfolio of cultural attractions will only increase this important economic return. In approving this legislation and welcoming the Barnes Foundation to Philadelphia with open arms, you will not only help to make the Parkway one of the great cultural corridors in the nation and the world, but also will continue to support Philadelphia's growing renaissance as an international destination city with truly world-class 79 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 cultural attractions. Thank you for your consideration.
Thank you for your testimony and thank you for King Tut.
Please. MS. McCLENNEY-BROOKER: Committee Chair Reynolds Brown and Councilman Clarke, in his absence, members of the Committee, my name is Cheryl McClenney-Brooker. I'm Director of External Affairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and I am representing Anne d'Harnoncourt and Gail Harrity, who wish they could be present here today. The Museum looks forward to welcoming the Barnes Foundation as a new member of the family of cultural and educational institutions on the Benjamin 80 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Franklin Parkway. I am here today with my colleague, William Valerio, Assistant Director for Administration at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and he has a few words.
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Valerio. I am Assistant Director for Administration at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and I will add briefly in support of the bill that the Museum anticipates with enthusiasm working, continuing to work closely with our sister institution, the Barnes, to serve the citizens of Philadelphia and our visitors from near and far with programs and cultural experiences of delight, illumination and life-long learning. Thank you.
Could you please speak to the -- let me not jump. 81 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Could you please speak to the rich after-school programming you have there in light of the testimony provided by Dr. Bernard Watson that the Barnes too will make sure that young people of all stripes and from all walks of life have the opportunity to see that institution?
What I would say is that the Art Museum works together with the Barnes as well as the ICA Gallery, the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania on joint programs that are exhibition oriented and education oriented as well. I'll get to after-school programs, but I would mention our current shared initiative developing a curriculum for all fourth grade students across the City of Philadelphia. Our Education Department at the Art Museum is working with the Barnes, is working with the art departments across the City at many museums to ensure that every fourth grader has a deep, rich and meaningful 82 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 art experience at that time, which educators deem to be a very important time in a child's development and so they've identified that fourth grade moment as the crucial one and are working together on this citywide program, and I anticipate that when the Barnes moves to the Parkway, we will have more experiences working together, easier access to each other as we develop these programs up and down sort of the phases of life at which people have different kinds of experiences with art. I would say our fourth grade initiative that's current and very exciting will be a model as we expand after-school programs, for example. Currently, the Museum has after-school programs, has teen sketch clubs, has programs, art classes on Friday afternoons, and we are delighted to know some of the things that I learned here today, that I think many of us learned here today, that there will be expanded 83 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 education facilities at the Barnes on the Parkway and I'm sure we will work together, as we already work together.
I think a unique opportunity exists given the struggles of all school systems but in particular the Philadelphia public school system and the challenges they continue to face with regards to the availability and accessibility to arts. There's a unique opportunity here for a blending of a partnership that could potentially seek to fill some of that void, knowing that there is no universal answer or utopia type of answer for meeting the needs, desires and wants of young people who want to be involved with the arts and culture, but when you look at the possibility that comes with the synergy that could come from Barnes and the Art Museum and Moore College of Art, it's pretty exciting.
Councilman 84 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 Jack Kelly.
Yes. First of all, it's nice to see you, Ms. Brooker and Mr. Valerio, in our Chambers again. I have a question, and maybe either one could answer this. Being that you're going to be a competitor of the Art Museum, do you see any negative impact that this is going to have on the attendance of the Art Museum?
Or do you think it's going to have a positive effect of drawing more people so they could --
Absolutely. In our experience, when the Museum has an exhibition that is attracting large numbers of people into the City of Philadelphia, we know that those visitors then also go to other institutions. And as an example, I would cite our Wyeth exhibition that took place about a year 85 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 ago, and at that time people were attracted to Philadelphia for that exhibition and then went to the Brandywine Museum to see other Wyeth exhibitions there and went to the Pennsylvania Academy of Art to see that magnificent collection of American art there. So we know from our experience at the Museum that when one institution does well in terms of attracting visitors, those visitors also go to other museums, and we would be glad to provide Council with --
It was actually proved with the Dali exhibit that over $54 million in revenue growth of the City because of that, because of that exhibition alone. But what I wanted to -- and I'm looking forward, of course, 86 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 to the opening of the Perelman wing of the Museum. I think that's going to be another great asset to the City, and I can't wait for that to open. You're to be congratulated on that accomplishment.
You're welcome, Councilman Kelly. Any other questions of these witnesses? (No response.)
We thank you all very much for your testimony. If we could please ask Mr. Brian Gordon, Commissioner for Merion, to please come forward. Good afternoon. If you could state your name for the record. Welcome.
Good afternoon. My name is Brian Gordon. I am the Township Commissioner for the 12th Ward, 87 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 which includes the Barnes Foundation in Lower Merion, and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I am the first to speak in opposition of the bill for the Ground Lease, 070462. Lower Merion is the proud home of the Barnes Foundation. It's an important part of our cultural heritage. Over the years, over 70 -- actually, longer. Since 1920, over many years, it's become woven into the fabric of Lower Merion and it's a wonderful part of Lower Merion and the Philadelphia art scene already, which is part of the point of my coming here today. We are determined to keep the Barnes Foundation as the founder wished and as expressed by many of the speakers today. The founder cited the museum with intent in Merion, together with a 12-acre arboretum in a building designed for the collection by Architect Paul Cret. It is an historic and aesthetic masterpiece, which is really designed to house this 88 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 collection of art, and if the art is removed, the experience is going to be destroyed forever. It's like having a beautiful classic diamond ring and taking the diamond out of the ring and putting it in another setting. The other setting is nice, but something is going to be lost, very significant is going to be lost in the process. The Township of Lower Merion has passed a resolution which outlines why the Barnes Foundation must not be moved. We have offered suggestions to make the Barnes financially viable in Merion. We have asked that the plans to move the Foundation be forever abandoned. We want the Barnes and Philadelphia to both benefit from this extraordinary cultural institution. It is available. The Barnes Foundation is available to plain people and school children now from every walk of life. At my instigation -- I've only been a Commissioner for a year and a 89 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 half -- I have introduced a resolution to dramatically expand visitation. Even before taking office, after my election, I reached out to Chairman Watson and others and invited them to reopen a dialogue to figure out how we can open this institution, get past any differences, any friction there was between the neighbors and the Barnes administration and make and realize Barnes' dream in the neighborhood in a way that increases visitation, and the dialogue has been very limited. For years, it's been limited because a decision was made many years ago to try to move the Barnes. The ordinance which I've authored would at this point increase visitation up to 140,000 people per year. This would more than cover the Foundation's purported shortfall and it would include thousands upon thousands of school children. The Barnes is a short 12-minute 90 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 train ride or direct bus ride from Center City. It could be just a shuttle bus ride away from the Parkway. All tourists visiting the Foundation would stay in hotels and eat in restaurants in Philadelphia at absolutely no cost to the City. I have a different vision for the Barnes Foundation and how it could be integrated in Philadelphia's cultural scene and be part of, I would say, our arts engine, and that is to leave the Barnes where it is, which is only 12 minutes away from the Parkway, have people get tickets for the Barnes Foundation, whether in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which has a wonderful ticketing operation already, and have them go to the Museum and get onto a shuttle bus and go, or come straight out to the neighborhood and come to Lower Merion and see this beautiful jewel where it is, as intended by Dr. Barnes, or have school children have buses go right 91 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 there, as they do already. You have an opportunity.
If you deny this lease and really consider what it is you're doing, you have an opportunity to carrying out all of the same goals and all of the desires which you intend to desire without spending additional funds and preserving this wonderful institution. The shuttle bus could include not only the institutions along the Parkway but then connect up with the new Please Touch Museum in the middle of Fairmount -- in Fairmount Park at the site of the Centennial Hall, which is a direct shot en route to the Barnes Foundation, which is just really about a thousand yards over City Avenue. The other set of reasons I wanted to come to you -- and this is as a friend of Philadelphia who lived in Philadelphia for 18 years and someone who cares very much for the City, and, that is, there are enormous financial needs 92 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 and pressures which Philadelphia now has, and although the lease has been presented as a no-brainer, it's presented as something that will not cost the City a dime, it will cost Philadelphia millions of dollars, because it will necessarily involve a construction of a new Youth Detention Center, one which is away from Family Court and away from the connectivity of having the Family Court and Youth Detention Center right next to each other and the convenience of the -- and one which is going to cost a tremendous amount of money, which hasn't been cited yet. Also, as I understand it, if you enact the bill and approve the Ground Lease today, then you're going to be under the gun to find a new Youth Detention Center and maybe forced to build a temporary one at the cost of millions of dollars and then a permanent one at even greater cost. There is another way, which I have mentioned, that 93 6/5/07 - PUBLIC PROPERTY & PARKS - BILL 070462 will save millions of dollars, and I as Commissioner commit to you that we will welcome all school children, as we do now -- not well publicized, but we do now -- to come to Merion to experience the Barnes and to enjoy this wonderful institution as it is. Thank you very much.
Mr. Gordon, could you please tell me you're here today representing whom?
I am here representing really the 12th Ward but also Lower Merion Township. Lower Merion Township is the township just on the western border of Philadelphia extending from City Avenue to Gladwyne.