JAMES DEAN - JAMES DEAN MUSEUM CLOSES

A museum dedicated to the life of American movie legend JAMES DEAN has closed in his home state Indiana. The James Dean Gallery in Gas City housed movie costumes Dean wore and a replica of the Porsche sports car he fatally crashed in 1955. Owner DAVID LOEHR has struggled to keep the museum solvent since it opened in 2004. He announced its closure in December (05), but a series of donations helped him keep it open temporarily. Loehr has now closed it down for good and donated some exhibits to the National Automotive + Truck Museum in Auburn, Indiana. He plans to donate to other items to Dean's former school, Fairmount High School. Loehr says, "It was a real asset to the county and state, but I just couldn't keep it going. It's time to move on to the next thing." Dean was just 24 when he was killed in a car crash in California in 1955.