DETROIT, MI -- Selling the Detroit Institute of Arts' multibillion-dollar collection to aid the city's debt restructuring is an extremely unlikely prospect, experts said.

As Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr works to renegotiate the city's crippling debt in an effort to avoid bankruptcy, creditors have already inquired about whether the DIA's prestigious collection of masterpieces is"on the table" as a city asset.

Orr exploring the issue has sparked fears that the collection could be sold off if the city were to ultimately pursue bankruptcy, but a financial restructuring expert and museum officials don't see that happening.

"We have had dynasties and societies and whole countries fall, much larger than the city of Detroit, and they did not sell their artwork and their heritage," said Jim McTevia, a local turnaround expert of the financial consulting firm McTevia and Associates.

"France did not sell The Louvre."

Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Orr to take over Detroit government in March.

A bankruptcy lawyer who helped Chrysler through its 2009 restructuring, Orr is tasked with addressing a city budget deficit that is expected to grow to about $380 million next year, and long-term liabilities estimated at around $15 billion.

A Detroit Free Press estimate places the value of the DIA's 38 top masterpieces at around $2.5 billion.

McTevia said the city's debt sits with bondholders, pension funds, investment groups and equity firms that are not based in Detroit or Michigan and are not likely to care where the money they're paid comes from.

He said Orr is forced to consider all prospects for raising money, but that targeting the museum is extremely unlikely.

"My opinion is that the likelihood of that happening is very, very remote," he said. "... The situation in the city of Detroit is not new. The insolvency in the city of Detroit has been going on a long time, and there are many avenues that can be pursued before remotely thinking of an avenue like that.

"And I don't think the people of Detroit would stand for it by any stretch of the imagination."

DIA officials also believe Orr will protect the museum.

"The DIA strongly believes that the museum and the City hold the museum’s art collection in trust for the public," the museum announced in a statement.

"The DIA manages and cares for that collection according to exacting standards required by the public trust, our profession and the Operating Agreement with the City. According to those standards, the City cannot sell art to generate funds for any purpose other than to enhance the collection. We remain confident that the City and the emergency financial manager will continue to support the museum in its compliance with those standards, and together we will continue to preserve and protect the cultural heritage of Detroit."

(Related: Detroit emergency manager to New York philanthropy group: 'We can't liquidate or sell off Detroit')

Follow Khalil AlHajal on Twitter @DetroitKhalil or on Facebook at Detroit Khalil. He can be reached at kalhajal@mlive.com or 313-643-0527.