EVERETT — After crews started removing stained-glass windows from First Presbyterian Church back in August, the panicked calls followed.
People from outside the congregation were worried: Was the elegant downtown church abandoning a fascinating part of its history? Would a neighborhood dominated by drab government buildings be losing a few precious rays of color?
The Rev. Alan Dorway assured them that wasn’t the case. No, the church windows were getting their first good cleaning in a quarter-century. Actually, it was more of an overhaul, with crews shipping the ornate glass back to an Iowa studio for a makeover.
“As we’ve worked on these windows, my eyes have been opened,” Dorway said. “Our building does ministry. Our sanctuary is unique. ‘Oh, that’s the one with the stained-glass windows and the brick.’ ”
First Presbyterian Church stands on the northwest corner of Rockefeller Avenue and Wall Street.
The windows were commissioned by congregants when the church was built in 1910. Nine windows line the sanctuary, each depicting potent scenes and symbols from the Bible. There’s the Descending Dove, the Hand of God and the Passion Cross. Young Jesus with lilies graces the adjoining columbarium.
The main window on the east side of the church shows Jesus in a scene from the Gospel of Matthew. It measures 19 by 23 feet and bears the signature of the Povey Brothers. The Portland, Oregon, glassmakers were contemporaries of Tiffany and highly regarded for their work.
“That was the top of the line for that time period,” said David Dilgard, an Everett Public Library historian.
“For the better part of a half-century, they were the most prestigious glass company here in the Pacific Northwest.”
A five-panel hallway window was crafted in the 1950s by a different company, Willet Studios of Pittsburgh.
Candles, coal-fired furnaces and weather are common culprits that can accelerate the aging of architectural glass.
Over the years, glass darkened and scenes painted on top faded. Lead holding pieces together corroded. Some windows buckled at the seams.
More than a year ago, church elder Roy Gresham set about planning the restoration.
The church ended up hiring Bovard Studio of Fairfield, Iowa.
“These folks don’t just do refurbishment — they design windows,” Gresham said.
Iowa may sound far away until you consider the last time the church contracted for this kind of work: The main east window got shipped to London — yes, England — and was gone for a year.
Chris Dieter, 47, has been supervising Bovard Studio crews coming to Everett from Iowa.
“We totally take the window down to its original pieces,” Dieter said.
Once the windows are back in Iowa, technicians take them apart using a table with a shallow pool of water to trap hazardous lead dust.
Artists repaint faded scenes. Individual pieces of glass may need to be refired in a kiln up to nine times to bring out different layers of detail.
When they put windows back together, it’s important to match the original size.
“The worst thing for me is to come back and have it not fit,” Dieter said.
The company also installed protective coverings on outside windows.
In all, the work involves approximately 200 individual glass panels. It’s now at least three-quarters complete, Gresham said.
The contract will total about $140,000. That includes windows in the main sanctuary, the columbarium and the five-panel hallway windows.
A large memorial donation made the work possible. Additional contributions came from parishioners.
“The windows themselves, they are beautiful, but each one of them depicts a different scripture,” Dorway said. They “draw people into the story of faith.”
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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