Outcry as Detroit Weighs Art Sale
MALVEAUX: Want to bring you some dramatic live pictures here. This is out of Houston, Texas. This is a hotel that is on fire. You can see the aerials from there from our affiliate. This is KPRC. The huge big black billowing smoke that is coming from that facility there, it is a four-alarm fire. A reporter on the ground saying that this fire might have started in the sports bar. You can see as they zoom in there, just dramatic flames, really engulfing that building. There are fire crews that are on the scene. You can see that they've blocked off the street as well. It is close to the highway. But lots of personnel that are there, and you see the emergency crews as well as many of the fire trucks that are parked along the side. We have seen firefighters that are on site, very close to the flames, with hoses trying to get that out as quickly as possible. We don't know whether or not there's anyone inside of the hotel at this moment. But certainly we see some people on gurneys there that are near the ambulance. We're going to have more details. We'll bring that to you as soon as we can. It is almost like a going-out-of-business sale in Detroit, really. Potentially on the table, we're talking about Van Goghs, Rodin, as well as Rembrandts. This is a scenario that is kind of disturbing really to art lovers, but Detroit, so much in debt, it is considering all options to raise billions of dollars, including selling that art. Poppy Harlow explains.</s>POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Matisse, Renoir, Van Gogh. Diego Rivera's iconic Detroit industry. Treasurers of the Detroit Institute of Art.</s>GRAHAM BEAL, DIRECTOR, THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS: So this is a Monet.</s>HARLOW: A Monet that could be sold to pay down Detroit's debt. More than $15 billion in debt, Detroit's emergency manager Kevin Orr asked the museum for an inventory to appraise its 60,000 pieces.</s>BEAL: They basically let us know that the collection was not off the table.</s>HARLOW (on camera): What makes Detroit unique is that the city actually owns all of the art here. Making it vulnerable for sale. In most cities, a nonprofit owns the art. (</s>Voice-over): In a statement, Orr insists there is no plan on the table to sell any asset of the city but says it is possible that the city's creditors could demand the city use its assets to settle its debts. That's if Detroit files for bankruptcy. (</s>On camera): What did you think when you heard that this was under consideration?</s>LAURA BARTELL, LAW PROFESSOR, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY: He has got to look at what assets Detroit has, what they are worth, and whether they should be sold.</s>HARLOW: Would it be irresponsible for him not to do this?</s>BARTELL: Absolutely.</s>HARLOW (voice-over): But the possibility of selling off beloved masterpieces is sparking heated debate.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I cannot even imagine this not being here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's one of the things that to me makes the city worth going to.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope it doesn't get sold off.</s>HARLOW (on camera): What would the sale of this mean?</s>BEAL: It would be a tragic irony. The first U.S. museum to acquire a Van Gogh in 1922 and then 90 years later, we sell it.</s>HARLOW (voice-over): Some works were donated with the mandate they not be sold. Most, though, are on the table.</s>CHARLES PUGH, DETROIT CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT: How in the hell are you going to sell a Renoir or a Van Gogh or a Jacob Lawrence painting to pay our bills?</s>HARLOW (on camera): But this city is more than $15 billion in the hole.</s>PUGH: I know. But, see, selling your art work should not be one way to fix it. It's like selling your kids. There are other assets that we can leverage and get this money that we need.</s>HARLOW: What power do you have?</s>BEAL: We have the power of the courts. We will defend, we'll do everything we can to defend the integrity of this collection, yes.</s>HARLOW (voice-over): As have people in three counties, who voted last year to increase their own taxes to support the museum when the city no longer could. But if Detroit goes bankrupt, nothing may be able to save these masterpieces. Poppy Harlow, CNN, Detroit.</s>MALVEAUX: Well, that's it for me. CNN NEWSROOM continues after this break. Have a great weekend.