IS BILL GATES working to preserve historical photographs—or hiding them away?

That’s the question The New York Times asked in its April 15 story on the Microsoft billionaire’s plans to stash the Bettmann Archive photos in a climate-controlled subsurface storage facility in Pennsylvania. Historians say no longer having access to the photos is a huge loss; archive officials say the photos have suffered the ravages of time, use, and poor storage practices.

Only about 2 percent of the images have been digitally copied, and Gates plans to have only a single employee working to complete the job. For a guy who somehow managed to find the money to employ dozens of workers building his Medina superhome, his staffing plan seems curiously stingy.

In a possibly related story, the city of Medina has placed a moratorium on mega-house building projects, denying Gates the opportunity to simply bury the pictures in his backyard.

JAMES BUSH jbush@seattleweekly.com