St. Catherine of Siena is blessed to have beautiful stained glass windows in our church. During the last major church renovation, the side stained glass windows were completely restored. Since the current church was built in 1957, however, the large stained glass windows have not had any work done on them. Over the last five decades, the frames have rusted and the windows have warped. If you walk up to the choir loft, you can see the current condition of the windows and the need to do something. In order to preserve the large windows for another 50+ years, they are in need of restoration.
Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Louie Roussel, III, we will begin work on restoring the two large stained glass windows in August. The project will be completed in three phases. Phase 1 will include the installation of scaffolding, the removal of the stained glass panels, and removal of the scaffolding. Phase 1 is scheduled to begin on August 14, 2017 and will conclude by September 29, 2017 (if everything goes as planned).
After Phase 1 is completed, the panels will be shipped to Conrad Schmidt Studios where they will be completely restored. The restoration process will include the following: the windows will be completely taken apart, they will be cleaned, any broken pieces will be fixed, they will be reassembled with new lead, and new reinforcement bars will be installed. This process will take around two months. During this time, the windows will just have the clear protective plexiglass currently in place.
Phase 2 and Phase 3 will involve installing new window frames, the newly restored windows, and new protective glass. The windows will be re-installed one at a time. The new protective glass will be clear and allow the brilliance of the stained glass to be seen from outside of the church. The current plexiglass has become discolored over time. Phases 2 & 3 will again involve the installation of scaffolding in the church.
The timeline for Phases 2 & 3 will be set as soon as possible and we will communicate it with you as soon as it is set. Our goal will be to have at least the sanctuary window back in place before Christmas and the choir loft window back in soon after.
If you have ever wondered what each window means, we invite you to click here. It describes each window in detail.
Mr. Louie Roussel, III, is doing this project in honor of his mother. Please pray for him and his intentions as we give thanks to God for his great generosity!
If you have any questions about the project, please see Fr. Ronnie or Fr. Tim. Thank you for your patience and flexibility during this restoration project.