DYER | The last old barn in Dyer was torn down in 2007 to make way for a community park, but its history lives on in a Munster business.

The barn's beams, wood, one of its doors and a window have new life at the Royce Photography studio in Munster. Photographer Royce Chenore has used what he salvaged from what was once Dyer's oldest building to construct the first of two photo sets upon which clients will have their pictures taken in years to come.

Chenore calls the display, which looks like a small stage set, unique, something "that will differentiate me" from other studios. Reaction from clients has been overwhelmingly positive, and Chenore always takes care to hand clients a notecard explaining the origins of the wood and its history.

"Imagine if this wood could talk," he said. "The stories it could tell."

Chenore bid for the right to salvage from the barn and took away various components throughout the summer of 2007. After the barn was officially demolished in the fall, he also recovered some of the beams.

The barn's beams were held together by wooden pegs, a construction technique dating to the 19th century.

The barn was part of an old farm site on 213th Street, east of what is now Calumet Avenue. Although details of the barn's history are sketchy, it was either built by or owned for a time by one of Dyer's founding families, the Keilmans.

Chenore's photo set stands about 12 feet tall, incorporating wooden boards and a door with its original iron hinges and one of the windows. The set is moveable, and he plans to build a second one using the barn's beams.