Nowling also blasted the DIA for failing to act when restructuring consultants approached the DIA two months ago to warn of "a potential huge liability for them."
"They've been negligent to date in trying to find a way to protect a tremendous cultural asset, not only of the city, but of Michigan and the world," Nowling said. "Burying your head in the sand is not the right option that they should be looking at."
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DIA spokeswoman Pamela Marcil said earlier Friday the city is not allowed to sell off assets because of an agreement with the DIA that says the museum will operate according to professional standards. Selling off art would violate standards set by the American Association of Museum Directors, which has accredited the DIA.
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But in a Chapter 9 filing, the agreement between the city and the DIA would be thrown out, Nowling said.
"It's a contract, like all other contracts," he said. "So what you have left is a city asset sitting on the table."
While federal bank law prohibits any liquidation of assets, creditors can sue Detroit for payments — and they could demand Detroit sell off assets to settle those debts, Nowling said.
Detroit owns the majority of the 66,000 pieces of art and the building, but the DIA is the caretaker.
Nowling stressed there's currently no plan to sell any art and that this is a "precautionary measure" to inform the DIA that if Detroit is pushed into bankruptcy "we're not sure we can protect the assets from the creditors."
"We recognize the cultural impact and significance of the DIA for the city," he said. "
Quite frankly, we're bemused that it's taken them over two months to finally react to what we think is a huge liability."
From The Detroit News:
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz2UbIPd19b