Switch cases not allowing dict creation

namespace eval menu { 
}

####
proc menu::showMenuBar { args } {
try {
set debug [lindex $args 0]
set menuBar	 [getFormValue about]			;#7c61626f75745f6d656e75 ~ |about_menu 
											;#7c61626f75745f72657475726e ~ |about_return
####
set split [lindex [split [2Base $menuBar] "|"] 1]			;# Split the value of the menuBar by |
####
;# Switch based on split to determine what we show next
;# Assign the menus to display 

switch $split {
about_menu   { dict create mookie system menu 1 }		;#Problematic Switch Case
about_return { dict create mookie system menu 0 }
default { set myMenuBar "[menu::about 0]"}
} ;#end switch

####
set myList [hexList "%menu" "[menu::about 1]"]				
set craft  [neonCrystal::getCraft neonMenu] 	    	;# Load the craftsheet
set hex    [tagSwap $craft $myList ] 					;# Preform morphing of tags with values
###
ixc::returnHtml [2Base "$hex"] 						    ;# Output final HTML layout with morphed values
#
} on error {err msg} {
set craft [neonCrystal::getCraft neonMenu] 				
set myList "[hexList "%menu"  "$err"]" 					
set hex [tagSwap $craft $myList ] 						
#
ixc::returnHtml [2Base "$hex"]
} ;#end try
} ;#end proc
####

#### 
proc menu::about {menu_state} {
# depends on which menu is selected and permissions
# Switch operations to display the following:
## 0 - About  Button
## 1 - Return Button

set about_menu   [2Hex "|about_menu"]						;# Encode the value to |about_menu to Hex
set about_return [2Hex "|about_return"]						;# Encode the value to |about_return to Hex

switch $menu_state {
0 { return [uiButton "about"  "/menu"  "$about_menu"  "about" "button"]}	;#Display the HTML button with parameters
1 { return [uiButton "about"  "/menu"  "$about_return" "return" "button"]}
} ;#end switch
} ;#end proc

####