[MSN] An afterlife for biblical museum. Dallas: Year after devastating fire, center slowly restoring art, planning its reconstruction

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An afterlife for biblical museum
Dallas: Year after devastating fire, center slowly restoring art, planning
its reconstruction 

12:00 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 28, 2006
By ELIZABETH LANGTON / The Dallas Morning News 



Every day Scott Peck arrives at work, he sees a gutted carcass instead of
prized artwork and treasured artifacts.

Mr. Peck and his three-person staff work from a construction trailer outside
the Biblical Arts Center, where faulty wiring ignited a six-alarm blaze one
year ago today. 


 
MICHAEL MULVEY/DMNThe fire devoured the 20-by-124-foot Miracle at Pentecost
painting and damaged every other piece of art in the building at 7500 Park
Lane in North Dallas.

"I want to be here," said Mr. Peck, the museum's director for seven years.
"It's like being a guardian angel."

For months, museum officials cataloged the damage and grieved in solitude.

"It's been very hard to deal with. Our lives were very caught up in this
place," Mr. Peck said.

They find hope in plans to rebuild on the same spot.

"We're starting to see through the woods now," Mr. Peck said.

Mattie Caruth Byrd, granddaughter of Dallas pioneer William Caruth, founded
the Biblical Arts Center in 1966 when she commissioned Torger Thompson to
paint Miracle at Pentecost.

D. Harold Byrd Jr. said his mother envisioned a museum where people from
different backgrounds could enjoy art inspired by the Bible. Mrs. Byrd died
before the museum's expansion and public opening in 1981.

"We are certainly going to build it back bigger and better and continue what
we've done before," Mr. Byrd said.

Demolition started in March. The process is moving slowly as engineers test
each piece of the structure to determine what is salvageable, Mr. Peck said.
Groundbreaking on the reconstruction is scheduled for fall. The goal is to
rebuild the museum by fall 2007.


The fire within

The front entrance - a re-creation of Jerusalem's Damascus Gate - shows no
signs of the devastation. But opening the door reveals gaping chunks missing
from the roof, soot-stained walls and the aroma of charred wood.

"It seems so much smaller," Mr. Peck said last week as he scanned an open
space once occupied by the atrium, gift shop, three galleries and the Garden
Tomb exhibit.

The museum welcomed more than 50,000 visitors annually. It hosted traveling
collections by artists including Rembrandt, Norman Rockwell and Marc
Chagall. 

"The momentum was really moving for the museum," Mr. Peck said.

About 2,500 pieces of art were damaged. Most belonged to the center, but a
number were on loan from private collections and other museums. Some works
survived the flames, Mr. Peck said, but everything suffered heat, smoke or
water damage.

"From a technical aspect, everything was destroyed," he said. 

Restoration efforts, all being done in-house, have started on the salvaged
pieces. 

Restoration completed on several dozen pieces so far looks stunning, Mr.
Byrd said.

"It's amazing what smoke and soot can do; it's really terrible," he said.
"But at least you can get it cleaned; it's not all burned up. It's amazing
how good they look."

But Miracle at Pentecost can't be restored. The canvas burned completely,
Mr. Peck said. Mr. Thompson, the artist, died in 1988.

Dallas sculptor Bob Hogan, who judged shows for the museum and exhibited
there, calls the loss of Miracle at Pentecost tragic. But he sees new
opportunities.

"A lot of people before thought it was about one painting, and it's not.
It's about so much more," he said. "I hope that it becomes something bigger
than it ever was because of this.

"With loss comes an opportunity for more art to be created. You never know
what might come and fill that void."


Relying on trust

The Biblical Arts Center operates through a trust established by Mrs. Byrd.
Though the museum has received some donations and an insurance settlement,
the amount of which Mr. Peck declined to reveal, it still needs $2 million
to fund reconstruction.

The M.R. and Evelyn Hudson Foundation gave a $50,000 grant to pay for a new
development director. That person will start work July 1 and will seek
grants and launch a capital campaign.

When people ask how they can help, Mr. Peck recommends that they become
museum members. 

"The future is bright, but we need the support of the community," he said.
"We serve a unique mission. It's a unique treasure and jewel for the city
and the nation.

"The idea is to become stronger than ever."

E-mail elangton at dallasnews.com