The city wrestles with the fate of 10 pieces of antique furniture donated when the Kumar mansion was bought. To sell or not to sell?
By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published April 13, 2004
[Times photo: Douglas Clifford]
Mayor Jerry Beverland settles into a couch donated to Oldsmar by the Kumars.
OLDSMAR - With their gold-leaf finish and intricate hand-detailed upholstery, the antique sofa and chairs would be right at home in a castle or museum.
But they seem increasingly out of place around Oldsmar City Hall.
Mayor Jerry Beverland sees the furniture as a gold mine that the city should sit on - figuratively, at least - but one of his City Council colleagues says it's time to cash out.
The differences flared last week when the council considered the fate of 10 pieces of antique French furniture Roger and Lila Kumar handed over when the couple sold their waterfront mansion to the city last year.
Beverland, a history buff who says he owns chairs from Abraham Lincoln's White House, wants to keep the furniture and display it prominently in a city building. Council member Janice Miller said the hand-carved chairs and sofa have no connection with the city and should be sold or returned.
The mayor, a friend of the Kumars for 35 years, asked the council last week to adopt a measure guaranteeing the city would not sell the furniture. The council postponed a decision, but Roger Kumar said Monday he'll take the furniture back if the city tries to sell.
"I will not let them sell it," said Kumar, 70. "It was not given to them to raise money. The purpose is not to make a profit."
The city purchased Kumars' Shore Drive home for $2.2-million last year with the idea that it would be converted into the city's cultural arts center. Kumar donated the Louis XVI style furniture to be displayed in that building, he said.
But last month, city officials said repairs to the home would be too costly, and council members decided to demolish the building. Now, with the building gone, city officials are unsure where the new arts center might be built.
They are also unsure what to do with the Kumar furniture, which is sealed in an empty former bank building the city owns.
Beverland said the furniture was given with the understanding it wouldn't be sold. He wants to keep that promise.
"Somebody wants to give you something this valuable, you take it," Beverland said. "I mean why not? We're not going to get another set."
The furniture was built in the 1880s and includes a salon sofa, four armchairs, four side chairs and a fireplace screen. The fabric is all hand-stitched, and the wood includes an ornate gold-leaf finish.
The value of the pieces is in question. A city appraisal from Harcourt Syms, a Tarpon Springs businessman, said the pieces were worth $10,000. A 1987 appraisal that a Kentucky firm conducted for the Kumars said the pieces are worth $88,750. The sofa alone is worth $18,000, according to that appraisal.
Kumar said he had the furniture reupholstered in the early 1980s. He said a group of women spent nearly five years doing the work by hand.
"Now that the (Shore Drive) house is gone, maybe they don't need the furniture," Kumar said. "Well, if they are not going to use it, I'll be more than happy to pick it up tomorrow and display it in my living room."
Miller said the city should have some say in how it uses the Kumars' gift. The furniture doesn't belong in Oldsmar's cultural arts center, she said.
"Do you consider that art?" Miller said. "I don't think there's a place for it."
Miller said that if the Kumars won't let the city sell the furniture, then it should return the 10-piece set.
Beverland disagrees.
"I can see this sofa in France in some palace somewhere," said Beverland, closing his eyes. "And I just wonder who sat there. I see this chair and I wonder who sat there.
"These things are gorgeous, and I can't imagine why we'd want to give them away."
- Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Aaron Sharockman can be reached at 727 771-4303 or asharockman@sptimes.com
