A small group of Corona de Tucson women were delighted Monday as they strolled among the antique restored cars in a 70-year-old adobe house in the middle of a desert island surrounded by urban Tucson.
They waxed lyrical about the cars, early 20th-century automotive marvels, and expressed their surprise to find a dense forest of mesquite trees and creosote shrubs in the "big city."
"They're beautiful. They're absolutely beautiful," said one of the seven women who belongs to the Newtowners, a civic and social group.
It's back to normal for the Franklin Museum in Midtown, home to the largest private collection of restored early 20th-century cars, left behind by the late Thomas H. Hubbard.
Groups of people are trooping to the five-acre site in the Richland Heights West neighborhood, near North Mountain Avenue and East Prince Road, which up until recently faced the threat of leaving. Volunteers have returned to spruce up the grounds, which had been left untouched in the past uncertain year.
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"Thomas Hubbard would have been happy to see this group of women from Corona. Tomorrow it might be Cub Scouts," said Bourke Runton, the museum's curator.
"That's what Thomas Hubbard would have wanted."
Hubbard's wishes were clear. After his death in 1993 at the age of 67, his will established a foundation to maintain his small fleet of about 25 cars made by the New York-based Franklin company from 1902 to 1934, thousands of mechanical drawings related to the cars and a large collection of Southwestern art and artifacts assembled by his aunt, Alice Carpenter of Oracle.
He wanted everything to stay in his Tucson family home, which would be open to local and out-of-town visitors.
But a majority of the foundation's trustees, some of whom do not live in Tucson, thought otherwise. The trustees fired Runton, an original trustee, as the museum's curator in May 2005. The trustees spent foundation money to buy property in upstate New York for a new car museum and they attempted to auction off Carpenter's valuable collection.
But Runton held fast and fought back. Hubbard's family and friends, and Tucson auto buffs organized a support group. A lawyer took on the case, arguing that Hubbard's will did not allow the collection to be broken up and removed.
In August, facing a skeptical Superior Court judge, Clark Munger, the trustees gave up. Hubbard's will was preserved and Tucson kept a jewel.
Runton will remain as trustee and will be joined by Tom Peterson, former director of the Southern Division of the Arizona Historical Society, and local attorney Emery Barker.
The museum reopened two weeks ago. Trees have been pruned back. The cars have been dusted off.
Runton is busy getting the museum ready for more visitors.
In the short term, Runton doesn't plan to make any changes to the museum. It will be open to visitors and groups on an appointment basis.
But future dreams for the museum could include restroom and picnic facilities, garage improvements and a new garage to accommodate the existing cars.
"I think we can get the museum turned around and raise its profile," said Barker.
Opinion by
Ernesto Portillo Jr.
