Judge Sets Hearing Date In Barnes Foundation Case

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- The judge who cleared the way for the legendary Barnes Foundation art collection to relocate to Philadelphia has ordered a new hearing in the contentious case.

Montgomery County Orphans Court Judge Stanley Ott on Friday ordered a March 18 hearing.

Ott says he wants the Barnes Foundation and the attorney general's office, who argued in favor of the move, to explain why the case shouldn't be reopened.

The judge's order comes after a petition filed by a citizens group that wants the Barnes to stay in suburban Lower Merion.

Friends of the Barnes Foundation says Ott didn't have all the evidence when he approved the art collection's move in 2006.

The Barnes galleries are slated to close in June and reopen next year near the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

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