June 27--Firefighters today continued to battle a fire that began this morning at the Downing Museum at the Baker Arboretum at 4801 Morgantown Road.
The museum housed the largest collection of artwork by Joe Downing and is owned by Jerry Baker, who endowed his art collection, along with his home and arboretum, to Western Kentucky University. At the time, the $15 million gift was the largest single gift by an individual to a public university in Kentucky.
Elizabeth Downing, Joe Downing's niece, said the family is concerned about what might be saved or lost. Joe Downing, a world-renowned artist who died in 2007, was the brother of former WKU President Dero Downing, Elizabeth's father, who died in 2011.
"There were probably thousands of pieces in the collection," Downing said. "They have enough to rotate the displayed collection six times a year. I hope they were able to salvage as much as possible from the basement."
After arriving at the property this morning, Downing was devastated by what she saw.
"The original part of the museum, once a large glassed-in gazebo, appears to have been spared. The famous Doors of Life that it displayed are now lying on the museum ground and appear to be OK," she said.
However, the silo, which housed as many as 150 pieces of artwork, appeared to have been gutted, Downing said. One of the pieces housed in the silo was an 18-foot oil painting on leather. It is unkown at press time if it was lost.
"This is just devastating to us," Downing said.
When James Greer, a firefighter with the Hadley and Browning volunteer fire departments, arrived on the scene about 6:30 a.m., he saw a few broken windows on the east wall of the museum, where much of the fire was concentrated.
"It looked like it'd been smoldering for a while," Greer said. "The whole building was puffing gray smoke. It's in the floors and walls pretty good."
The Woodburn and Barren River volunteer fire departments also responded, and the Alvaton volunteer fire department was summoned later. At press time, firefighters had found most of the flames but were still trying to locate a couple of hotspots, including one interior room that was hard to get to because of a collapsed floor.
Museum workers and other volunteers ran in and out of the basement, which is used as a storage area for items not on display, to retrieve as much of the artwork as possible.
"They are still battling the fire in the building," WKU President Gary Ransdell said shortly before 10 a.m. "Everything in the basement was removed safely, but it looks like most of the artwork on display will not be salvagable."
Ransdell said he is not sure which pieces were on display in the gallery. A Nashville artworks restoration company is being contacted and will be brought in as soon as possible. The pieces were to be inventoried this afternoon.
"We are talking to Jerry right now, and this is a very difficult thing for him," he said. "But Jerry is safe."
Baker was in his home, a separate building on the property, when one of the museum's employees woke him up and told him about the fire.
"It's a great loss," Baker said. "Joe Downing's no longer living, so there's no way to replace it."
At press time, firefighters estimated it would take at least a couple more hours to completely extinguish the blaze, so the extent of the damage wasn't yet known. One wall was mostly gone, and smoke and water damage was evident throughout the building.
Firefighters believe the fire was caused by a lightning strike, though they are bringing a fire investigator out to make sure, Woodburn Fire Chief Bob Skipper said.
"At this time, I don't think there's anything suspicious," he said.
Susan Hoechner, a co owner of Barbara Stewart Interiors, is a longtime friend of Baker's and admirer of Downing's art.
"It's an extensive Joe Downing collection, from paintings to sculptures. It's probably the largest in the world," Hoechner said. "I wouldn't be able to calcuate the value. So many of them are oils, which is good as long as they are not burned."
One of Hoechner's employees, Dale Kirby, was on the scene this morning helping to remove the many Downing works to the lawn of the arboretum.
-- Laurel Wilson covers faith and general assignments for the Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/FaithinBG or visit www.bgdailynews.com. Robyn L. Minor covers business, environment, transportation and other issues for the Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/bowserminor or visit bgdailynews.com.
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