Editor's Note: These are the top stories Stratford Today posted this year.
At long last – let there be light.
That is perhaps the most appropriate way to let people know that the two-year restoration project on Knox Church’s stained glass window facing Ontario Street has been completed. Scaffolding is coming down, and the window can now be seen the way in which it was always intended.
Leonard Stannard, facilities manager for BMI Group, said the work required to restore the window was more extensive than they thought upon getting a closer look two-plus years ago when the project began.
“It had been covered with two layers of storm glass, while one of actual glass and a second layer of plexiglass was there – and the plexiglass wasn’t sealed very well,” Stannard said. “It kept building up moisture and got dirty and faded by the sun to the point where you couldn’t actually see the window. When BMI Group took over the building, one of the first things we did was repair the window and make it visible again.”
Six months into that work, Stannard said mortar was being removed around the window frame when the window waved in place, indicating there was a bigger problem. When they looked into things further, they discovered just how much of an issue it was.
“Workers discovered that the one-inch pins that had been put in back in 1915 to hold the window in place were now only three-eighths of an inch, so everything got shut down and engineers were called in,” he said. “After they did their testing to figure out what was required, they came up with the idea of putting some new beams in. There used to be some big angle iron up there, but when they put that in they cut into the window frame. So now there’s a series of new steel beams in there.’
Stannard said the final piece of glass was installed and the caulking was completed on September 25, including the replacement of a cracked panel of glass workers found after caulking had been done.
Someone who is more than happy to see the restoration finished is Knox’s former reverend, Dr. David Thompson, who was with Knox Presbyterian from 1983-2000. Upon seeing the afternoon light beaming through the window and bringing the colours of the McCausland stained glass window vibrantly back to life, he smiled as if saying hello to an old friend.
“It’s fabulous to see and it’s so heartwarming to see that BMI has cared to preserve that piece of history,” he said. “The congregation has been waiting almost impatiently for this day, wondering how much longer it was going to be. I always longed for the plexiglass to come off because it was so faded. The inside looked much like it does now, but as the minister I would see that. When I first came to this church, I came in through the side door and when I came up those steps and entered, I said, ‘Holy Moses’. It was just spectacular to see.”
Stannard hopes the city is happy with the work he and the BMI team have done, and is looking forward to seeing Knox (now called Copperlight) shine.
“It’s such a great feeling because when I moved here in 2020, I couldn’t see that window from the outside,” he said. “This is going to be something I think everybody will be very happy with.”
