First Presbyterian Church To Have 23 Stained Glass Windows Restored

Jacksonville Stained Glass traveled to Louisiana on March 7 to extract and fully restore 23 stained glass windows from First Presbyterian Church.

The stained glass windows are over 100 years old and are seriously in need of restoration work. These “Early American” style of windows vary in size from 30”x30” to the large arch windows which are 5′ tall by 10′ long. The attached set of photos show one of these large arched windows being gently extracted by JSG.

Primarily the windows are composed of 80 percent opalescent glass. The remaining 20 percent is made up of cathedral glass, jewels, blobs and rondels. Cathedral glass is much more transparent than opalescent glass and is often used as a highlight in stained glass panels. The jewels, blobs and rondels are prevalent throughout the windows and number nearly 500 total. Many of the rondels were broken and replacements were made by Kokomo Opalescent Glass, Kokomo, Ind.

After extraction, the windows were transported to Jacksonville Stained Glass’ studio where they are currently undergoing full restorations. Steps include; complete dismantle of the existing leaded glass matrix and all lead properly disposed of, every piece of glass will be washed by hand, broken pieces repaired or replaced, re-leading of the windows using restoration quality lead came, solder joints both sides of panel, cement brushed in on both sides using our proprietary cement formula, support bars added and finally the panel is re-installed into it’s sash frame – ready to go back to First Presbyterian.

Re-installation of the restored stained glass is scheduled for late June and will take several days to complete. “We are looking forward to getting these windows back where they belong. This set of windows will provide an amazing light show”, according to Ron Weaver, owner of JSG.