The Glass Restoration Project began after dark on Monday night, with Elaine Yates, Mike DeFillipi, George Sutton, David Perez, and Brendan Ross taking final photos and video of the condition of the inside stained glass and stone in the Nave. Thanks to the professional lighting provided by Brendan, and fortified with chocolate chip cookies from Nancy, we used the hydraulic lift to capture the best record yet of the condition of glass and stone in our worship space.
Four Craftsmen from Rohlf Studio arrived on time Tuesday morning (Rueben, Ronnie, Oscar and Alfredo), and immediately unpacked their tools and set up scaffolding and tarps at Window #1 (the Annunciation).
Then at 9:30am, Brad gave a deeply meaningful Blessing for the Restoration Project, and shortly after, the window removal began in earnest with the panel of “Mary learning at the knee of her mother (St. Anne)” the first one to come out. The crew worked steadily into the afternoon to remove the rest of the panels from Window 1, and Reuben told us that the panels are set very tightly, with little clearance in the stone grooves and very hard putty, and it is slower going than expected. But by Wednesday morning, they expect the temporary Plexiglas to be installed in Window 1, and then advance to the same process on Window #3. After that, they expect removal of the three other windows (5, 7, and 9) should be completed by Saturday, and transported by Rueben and his crew back to Rohlf’s to begin the in-studio restoration.
Meantime, the Stained Glass Committee is standing by the worksite, covering and protecting our pews and cushions, cleaning up, taking photos and video, and assisting the Rohlf Craftsmen any way we can. This coming Sunday will show a much changed worship space, and with five of our large windows gone and dark-grey plexiglas installed in their place, we will definitely see our Nave a “new light”.. Please continue to pray with us for the safety of the workmen and the preservation of our stained glass legacy at CCGP.
