after the fire expanded article

8/3/2019 After the Fire Expanded Article

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After theFireRestorations by


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Restoration of St. Marys ChurchBurlington, Wisconsin

After a devastating fire guttedSt. Marys Church in Burlington,Wisconsin, Conrad SchmittStudios was commissionedto restore the damaged anddestroyed stained glasswindows and the interiordecoration. Coincidentally,Studio archives revealedthat CSS had decorated St.Marys in 1920. Much ofthe damaged interior wasfrom that decorative scheme,

including the decorative paint-ing, Stations of the Cross, altars,and murals.St. Marys Church before the fire

The raging fire that destroyed all but the exterior walls of the church


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The roof and ceiling of St.Marys had been completelydestroyed by the fire, but thestructure of the vaulted ceilingwith ribs and pendants soonwas restored. The historic

stained glass windows alsosuffered significant damage.Glass and lead cames werecracked, broken, and meltedthroughout the stained glasswindows.

View from inside the church,of which only a shell remained

Condition of St. Marys when the windows were removed

Over 3,000 square feet of St. Marys unusually fine windows,circa 1870, were cracked or melted by the heat. This transept

window was broken for the firefighters hoses.


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The restoration of the stained glass win-dows and the Stations of the Cross wascarried out at the well-equipped Studio.The plaster work, decorative painting, andgilding within the church were aided byextensive scaffolding. All of the extensive,specialized work was conducted over thecourse of more than a year.

Scaffolding allowed craftsmen to reach the ceiling forplaster replication, decorative painting, and stained

glass removal and re-installation.

Artists at the Studio conserved damagedstained glass, replicated lost stained glass

and restored the lead lines.

Stained glass artisans re-installed the restoredstained glass windows for St. Marys.

Stations of the Cross were cleaned andrestored with touch-ups and highlighting.


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Conrad Schmitt Studios watercolorrendering illustrated how therebuilding of the church interiorcould be an opportunity to incorpo-rate the tenets of Vatican II into thetraditional interior. The commun-ion rail was eliminated, the sanctu-ary was brought forward on a thrust

predella, and the side altars andmurals were removed to reducedistractions from the Altar and theEucharistic celebration. The Altar ofReservation was retained, but in thefunction of a reredos and receptaclefor the Blessed Sacrament.

"These windows will continue to be a sourceof faith and inspiration for the people ofSt. Marys--just as they were in the past."

--Fr. Robert Gosma, St. Marys Catholic Church,Burlington, WI

A rendering of the Studios proposedupdated layout and decoration

Parishioners walked through the in-progress interior,before the reredos and seating was re-installed.

The restored and renewed St. Marys Church of Burlington, Wisconsin


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St. John the BaptistGlandorf, OH

In the early 1990s, St. John the BaptistChurch in Glandorf, Ohio suffered a

fire in the sacristy that destroyed two

stained glass windows, harmed three

others, and caused smoke damage

throughout the interior of the church.

Conrad Schmitt Studios glass artisans

restored the damaged windows and

replicated the lost ones, using photo-

graphs and existing windows to deter-mine the appropriate style and types

of glass.

Artists from the Studio cleaned smoke

and soot from the walls, ceilings, fur-

nishings and artwork of the fire-scorched

church. Then, decorative painting,

stenciling, gilding and glazing were

reapplied to restore the interior to an

updated decorative scheme.

Four large oil-on-canvas paintings and

murals also were conserved. The main

altar was restored, and two side altars

were polychromed and gilded. The

Stations of the Cross and several others

statues were washed, cleaned, in-fill

painted and highlighted to return them

to their original appearance. One year

after the fire, the beauty of the historicSt. John the Baptist Church was restored.

The historic interior of St. John the Baptist Church

The restored and liturgically updatedinterior of St. Johns


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In 1995, Conrad Schmitt Studios was commissioned by the Delta United Methodist

Church in Delta, Colorado to re-create the churchs twenty-six 1910 windows, afterthe church was destroyed by fire. When Bernard Gruenke, Jr., President of ConradSchmitt Studios went to investigate the remains of the church, he discovered that

the shattered stained glass alreadyhad been meticulously cleaned up,and with it the best clues to theoriginal windows. But upon furtherinvestigation, he found that someglass had fallen into a parapet. Fromthese--Jesus ear, eye, nose and partof his moustache, as well as somebackground glass, the Studio wouldbe able to deduce the type of glassand painting in the original windows.The reproduction of the overalldesign was based on photographs--and another lucky break.

On a hunch, Bernard Gruenke hadgone looking for other churches inthe same city that were built nearthe same time. He found onewhose stained glass and windowdesigns were nearly the same asthose from Delta United MethodistChurch. The Studios subsequentsearch for the stained glass studioof origin led to the discovery thatthe original glass manufacturer wasstill in existence and still had theformula for the 1910 glass in itsfiles; therefore, the specific glasswas able to be reproduced. Theextensive experience of the CSSStained Glass Studio directors with

historic glass and glass paintingalso enabled them to match theoriginal style of painting and leadcaming. When the windows werereinstalled, along with new storm

glass, the congregation was gratified with the Conrad Schmitt Studios faithful repro-duction of this essential part of their worship environment.

Replication of 26 Windows Destroyed by Firefor Delta United Methodist Church, Delta, Colorado


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"Now that things are settling down, I wanted towrite to you and most sincerely thank you and

your colleagues at Conrad Schmitt Studios for allthe wonderful artistry which you provided in therestoration of our Cathedral. Not only is the work

of the highest quality, but it was an enormouspleasure to work with all of those from your stu-dios involved in this project. Their professionalismand immense pride in their work was a joy to bearound, and sometimes much in contrast to othersinvolved in the project."

--Trish Pugh Jones, Executive Director,Cathedral Heritage Foundation,

Cathedral of the Assumption, Louisville, KY

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