ROSINE, Ky. — A foundation's plan to buy bluegrass founder Bill Monroe's mandolin has fallen through, and the instrument will be sold on the open market, says an agency representing Monroe's son.
The Bill Monroe Foundation had planned to return the 1923 Gibson F-5 orchestral mandolin to a museum at Monroe's Rosine home.
The foundation was to have completed the $1.125 million purchase from Monroe's son, James Monroe, Wednesday morning. It had given Monroe a 10 percent down payment plus a second smaller payment.
A spokeswoman for Buddy Lee Attractions Inc. of Nashville, Tenn., which represents James Monroe, told the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press the deal was off.
"We were there. They weren't. They didn't show up with the money," said Diane McCall. "That was the end of the contractual agreement. It's for sale on the open market."
"It's totally out of our hands," said Campbell Mercer, executive director of the Bill Monroe Foundation.
The foundation struggled Tuesday to put together a coalition of investors to guarantee about half of a $962,500 bank loan.
The bank required proof the instrument was free and clear of any tax or other liens. Foundation attorneys said a search of the singer's estate probate records would take several days.
Monroe had already extended the deadline from Saturday to Wednesday.
Bill Monroe purchased the mandolin in 1943. He died in 1996 and is buried in the community cemetery at Rosine.