Detroit mediator asks foundations to support pensions, art: report
Source: Reuters
Detroit mediator asks foundations to support pensions, art: report
DETROIT Thu Nov 14, 2013 1:15pm EST
(Reuters) - The federal judge overseeing mediation in the Detroit bankruptcy case has proposed that nine nonprofit foundations create a fund to prop up the city's threatened pension funds and defend the city-owned art in the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit News reported on Thursday.
Gerald Rosen, the chief district judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, floated the concept in a November 5 mediation session, the News said. The fund could total up to $500 million, and Rosen made the proposal to the Kresge, Hudson-Webber, Mott, Knight and Ford Foundations among others, the News reported.
Some creditors have pushed Detroit to sell its assets, including the works of the DIA, to raise funds. Auction house Christie's is in the process of valuing a fraction of the museum's 66,000 piece collection, which includes works by Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse and Rembrandt.
Bill Nowling, a spokesman for Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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