In Brief
Heritage Restoration was contacted to restore a window from the mid 1800s. This stained glass panel was discovered inside of a church wall facade during a recent renovation.
In Depth
The semi-triangular stained glass window was once positioned at the front doors of St. Mary of Lourdes Catholic church. When a new entrance walkway was added to the church, the window was blocked off and encapsulated inside the wall. Earlier this year, the glass was rediscovered during a renovation to build a vestibule at St. Mary's. After decades inside a wall, the window and its frame were in poor condition. Broken/cracked glass and weak lead would require a full restoration. Heritage Restoration was contracted to repair and clean the stained glass.
We started by removing the window from the church and bringing it to our glass studio located at 207 Voris Street in Peoria, Illinois. After documenting the glass's current condition, the broken sections were disassembled and replaced with similar glass. Once this releading was complete, the whole window and its caming were thouroughly cleaned of debris. At this time, two transom stained glass panels were also restored using the same process. Since the triangular glass window was going to be placed in an indoor location, it was decided that a light box would have to be created in order to create the illusion of natural sunlight. Heritage's staff constructed the light box and placed in it the restored glass. The light box was then installed at the church, concluding the restoration project.
This project was featured on News25 WEEK last night. You can read more about it in the link below!
News Link:
https://week.com/2020/11/10/woodford-county-churchs-hidden-beauty-uncovered/
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