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While reading the June 16 front-page article “The fine art of museum real estate,” about the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s location problem, I was reminded of a museum I once visited in southern Arizona. The museum, which told the interesting story of the copper mining town of Bisbee, was operated by the local historical association in what was once the town’s Copper Queen Hotel.

After touring the locally prepared exhibits on the first floor, I found on the second floor a first-class exhibit on the enormous, open-pit copper mine outside of town, prepared and sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution!

It seems to me that resolution of the Corcoran conundrum could be relatively simple: The Corcoran would sell its building to ExxonMobil, Lockheed Martin or another large corporation or consortium, which would donate it to the federal government (the Smithsonian) in return for the charitable-contribution tax deduction. The government, in turn, would contract with the Corcoran to display its collection for the public benefit. The Corcoran would be relieved of the financial burden of maintaining its building and buttressed by the contract fee.

Frederick Harrison, College Park