Opponents of relocating the Barnes Collection of fine art to downtown Philadelphia protest outside a ceremonial groundbreaking on Friday. (Matt Rourke/Associated Press)Proponents and opponents of moving the multibillion-dollar Barnes Collection of fine art attended the ground-breaking ceremony of its new downtown Philadelphia home on Friday.

Philanthropists and members of the city's arts community celebrated at the morning event, which took place under a tent because of chilly, rainy weather.

They say the relocation guarantees the collection's future amid the financial troubles suffered by the Barnes Foundation, which claims it was facing bankruptcy.

"None of the people raising their voices now in anger reached into their pockets to assist us in Merion," Barnes board chairman Bernard C. Watson told the crowd.

Architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien are designing the collection's new home, which is estimated to cost more than $150 million US. A tentative opening is slated for 2012.

However, a few dozen protesters were also among the approximately 200 people in attendance on Friday.

The critics waved signs that criticized removing the valuable art collection from the suburban mansion where collector Albert Barnes originally amassed and displayed his paintings by the likes of Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne and Renoir and antiquities hailing from around the globe.

Friends of the Barnes Foundation is the group opposing the move and representative Evelyn Yaari called the plan "a stupid attempt to recreate what we already have" and described it as a "pork barrel project" that will destroy a treasured collection.

"The very last thing we should do is dismantle it," she said, "and good practices tell us that we should conserve the authentic and not undertake actions that cannot be undone."

The Friends group organized the protest, with participants waving banners bearing messages like "Crime Scene. Do Not Enter. Destruction of National Historic Landmark in Progress" and labelling the initiative a "Toxic Area: Tax Dump Site."

Rather than an attempt to preserve art, they blast the relocation as a political manoeuvre designed to boost tourism to the city core.

Long-running dispute

After years of legal battles, in 2004 a judge granted the Barnes Foundation permission to move from the posh Lower Merion township in Montgomery County to a new location in Philadelphia's downtown core.

The foundation had argued that the relocation was necessary to allow for expansion and attract more visitors.

The original, historic location fell under strict rules, including a maximum of 400 visitors a day and being open to the public just three days a week.

Pharmaceutical mogul Barnes amassed his namesake collection over the years and housed it in a 25-room gallery beginning in 1925.

The art lover, who died in 1951, stipulated in his will that the gallery was to remain at its current location, and that the collection never be sold or moved from the unconventional and eclectic manner in which he himself had arranged the pieces.

The prolonged saga even sparked a noted documentary, entitled The Art of the Steal: The Untold Story of the Barnes Foundation, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

With files from The Associated Press