In the view of Ron Weaver,the stained glass windows of St.Columba Church in Ottawa are examples of"impressive craftsmanship."
However,130 years takes a toll.
Weaver is with Jacksonville Art Glass,the West Central Illinois company in charge of restoring the church's windows.The work began five weeks ago and is not expected to be done until next summer.The company won the bid for the project,beating out rivals from such places as New York,Minnesota and Chicago.
"When we're done,we say they're good for another 130 years,"Weaver said.
Weaver explained the process.
Each window,made up of varying numbers of panels,is extracted and taken by trailer to the company's studio in Jacksonville,where each panel is removed from the surrounding lead,photographed and marked by number.The photographs are a precaution,so if a panel is damaged,it can be properly rebuilt.The numbers are a guide to reinstalling the panels.In this regard,rubbings are also made,in which paper is laid on top of the glass and a crayon is rubbed across it.
"This serves as a road map,"Weaver observed.
All told,there are 248 panels to the windows,of which about 150 have been removed as of this week.The dimensions of some are in inches,others in feet.After the preparatory work is completed,the windows are washed by hand,then reinserted with new lead,as old lead stretches over time,leading to bowed glass.Some panels come damaged from the church,so certain repairs are on the agenda from the get-go.
Some of the glass is painted glass,requiring touch-up,which can include placing a new layer of glass over the original glass—"Very unnoticeable,"in Weaver's words.
Weaver noted that in church,the painted glass high above may not be so impressive,but up close the"detail is phenomenal."
There are five Jacksonville Art Glass employees working in Ottawa and another 15 at the studio in Jacksonville.
"It's quite a project.We've been on higher steeples,but for the size of church,this is probably the largest,"said John Krol,head of Jacksonville Art Glass."Modern techniques aren't that different than back then,but still,our goal is to hide them."
Weaver said there are no signs the windows have ever been removed since they were installed in 1882.However,while work continues restoring the glass,the question of exactly who made that glass is tantalizing Weaver and Krol.
"There's a lot of awesome glass,made by a quality studio back in the day,"Weaver said."Sometimes you can find a signature on a lead line or on glass,but so far we haven't."
Krol suspected the windows were imported from England or Germany,or perhaps the East Coast,but he may never know.
"It would be nice to put an artist's hand to the work."
