Detroit ‘Grand Bargain’ Vote Key To Bankruptcy End

Source: AP

DETROIT (AP) -- An effort by deep-pocketed philanthropists to save the bankrupt city of Detroit's art treasures began with a chance meeting last year and nears a culmination Friday when Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder authorizes millions in state help.

But all parties excited about the bill signing know that work could be for naught if the city's pensioners and workers, who are nearing a deadline for a historic vote on Detroit's plan to get out of bankruptcy, reject what has been dubbed the Grand Bargain.

"It is really not in our hands," said Rip Rapson, president of the Kresge Foundation, which has pledged $100 million toward the plan. "We fully understand that the pensioners have to make very hard decisions as to whether this is something they can support."

The state's contribution of $195 million, along with $366 million from foundations and a $100 million pledge from the Detroit Institute of Arts, would replace hundreds of millions being cut from retiree pensions, while stopping bond insurers and other creditors from forcing the sell-off of city-owned art such as Van Gogh's "Self Portrait." The money would come over 20 years, placing the value at about $816 million.

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