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Article: Built on philanthropy, central Montana museum's future now in jeopardy
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- May 30, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightProvided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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00-00-0000
Dateline: BILLINGS, Montana
In a stately, 26-room country home in central Montana, a trove of
antiques from 19th century Europe, priceless Western artwork and American
Indian artifacts are at the center of a battle of wills.
On one side is the legacy of two wealthy heiresses who hoped to share
their collection with their rural, less-traveled neighbors. Their
efforts culminated in the 1996 opening of the Charles M. Bair Family
Museum outside Martinsdale, a dot on the map in the middle of nowhere
where Alberta Bair lived many of her 97 years before her death in
1993.
On the other: trustees who have since closed the museum, at least
for this tourist season, because of ...