Albright Funeral Home Inc

A group spearheaded by Marion County Tax Collector George Albright is hoping to finally open the "Ma Barker house" to the public for tours by early next year.The members of Friends of the Bradford-Ma Barker House, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation established Jan. 18 for the "preservation of the historical Ma Barker House," aim to return the house to the same condition as it was eight decades ago, right after the infamous Barker/FBI gun battle.The group hopes the house, now located on the property of a Marion County park, will be open for public tours as soon as January.The Friends corporate information lists Albright, whose family home was once adjacent to the house and who is an avid researcher of the Barkers; Marion County Parks and Recreation Director, Landscape Architect Jim Couilliard; and Carson Good, the former owner who donated the house to the county, as officers and directors.Albright said the group has a "vision" of turning the clock back to 10:31 a.m. on Jan, 16, 1935, when, an FBI website states, the firing stopped, and make the house and grounds look just like they did at that moment in time.Numerous construction upgrades, such as stabilizing the house and adding air conditioning, have been necessary to prepare it for display and to qualify for grants. Windows used will be of the same era glass and vintage installation method.A recent visit to the house by members of the Marion County Sheriff's Office Forensics Unit, at the invitation of Friends members, roused interest again in the movements of the Barkers during the shootout.Tests seeking blood evidence were "not pronounced" and "did not give the reaction we're used to seeing" at the 83-year-old crime scene, where surfaces have been tampered with numerous times , according to MCSO Public Information Officer Lauren Lettelier.'They're dead'Many stories, some handed down from family members who witnessed the shootout, and urban myths, still abound about the Barkers and their time in Marion County.Albright said the Barke...