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February 22, 2008 - 8:19PM
Teacher aims to bring diorama back to life
Comments | RecommendArianna Price, For the Tribune
A Civil War diorama built by Gilbert students and dismantled by a Texas museum director may get a second life.Highland High School history teacher Glen Frakes said he is on a mission to have the diorama returned to the students in order for it to be restored and placed in careful hands.
"It's sort of like a living thing, and when the thing was destroyed, it's like we experienced a death," Frakes said. "Even if it's restored, it won't take the hurt away."
The diorama, which depicts the Battle at Palmetto Ranch, was dismantled after being on display for seven weeks in Austin, Texas, Frakes said. Texas Military Forces Museum director Jeff Hunt, who dismantled the diorama, has not returned several Tribune phone calls seeking comment.
Frakes said he has solicited the help of Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and is waiting for a response.
The Highland students are not the only ones fighting to have the diorama restored.
After reading about the diorama in the Tribune, a former director of the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum in Teterboro, N.J., said he found the situation "incomprehensible."
Jeff Herne, who describes himself as an advocate of military artifacts, said he immediately sent an e-mail to a friend who serves as director of the National Guard Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
In the e-mail, Herne said he asked his friend, Jonathan Burnstein, for assistance in obtaining the diorama and restoring it. But Herne said Burnstein was one step ahead of him and was "already on it."
Herne said he has agreed to volunteer his time in order to restore the diorama and have it displayed in Washington, D.C.
Frakes said Thursday he was unaware of the efforts of Herne and Burnstein, but he was flattered.
"Wow, I would certainly be willing to do anything to help them," Frakes said.
But, ultimately, he said he would like the original creators at Highland High to oversee the diorama's restoration.
Frakes said he and dozens of Highland students spent about 6,000 hours build the diorama over a period of 3 1/2 years.
Texas Military Forces Museum spokesman Col. Bill Meehan said the diorama was dismantled due to historical inaccuracies and because it was too large for the display room.
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