Longtime R&B record producers Leon Huff and Kenneth Gamble are considering whether to rebuild their fire-damaged offices into a music museum, the duo said Tuesday just hours after the man accused of setting the blaze was ordered to stand trial.
Testimony and surveillance video shown at a preliminary hearing convinced a judge that Christopher Cimini should be tried on charges including arson and burglary in the Feb. 21 fire that destroyed Philadelphia International Records.
The music label, which produced dozens of gold records, was home to artists including Teddy Pendergrass, Patti LaBelle, Lou Rawls and the O'Jays. Gamble and Huff estimated that about 40 percent of their memorabilia was ruined by fire, smoke or water damage.
The company already offered tours and a small gift shop, but Gamble said Tuesday that turning at least part of the three-story brick building into a museum could make it a “tremendous" tourist attraction.
While noting it would be a long way off pending resolution of insurance claims, the Grammy-winning duo said outpourings of fan support since the disaster have made them think such plans would be well received.
“A museum would be great, I'm telling you," Huff said in an interview in the gift shop, which was largely untouched by the fire. “If those walls could talk, they'd tell you some stories about the music business."
Testimony and surveillance video shown at a preliminary hearing convinced a judge that Christopher Cimini should be tried on charges including arson and burglary in the Feb. 21 fire that destroyed Philadelphia International Records.
The music label, which produced dozens of gold records, was home to artists including Teddy Pendergrass, Patti LaBelle, Lou Rawls and the O'Jays. Gamble and Huff estimated that about 40 percent of their memorabilia was ruined by fire, smoke or water damage.
The company already offered tours and a small gift shop, but Gamble said Tuesday that turning at least part of the three-story brick building into a museum could make it a “tremendous" tourist attraction.
While noting it would be a long way off pending resolution of insurance claims, the Grammy-winning duo said outpourings of fan support since the disaster have made them think such plans would be well received.
“A museum would be great, I'm telling you," Huff said in an interview in the gift shop, which was largely untouched by the fire. “If those walls could talk, they'd tell you some stories about the music business."
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