Taking on a shine
Project underway to restore stained glass at library
Studio Arts & Glass president Wendy Warren Joliet and Lisbon Lepper Library Director Marcy Kaiser check some glass samples against one f the stained glass windows unique to the original library building. The windows are being restored this year. (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)
These windows at the historic Lepper Library in Lisbon date back more than 125 years when the original building was constructed. (Photos by Mary Ann Greie
Stained glass craftsman Lonnie Tullof carefully works to remove a section of stained glass window at the Lepper Library, assisted by fellow craftsman James Grey (not picture). (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)
Wendy Warren Joliet of Studio Arts & Glass, a North Canton company which specializes in stained glass restoration, displays a section of window removed for restoration at the Lepper Library in Lisbon. (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)
These windows at the historic Lepper Library in Lisbon date back more than 125 years when the original building was constructed. (Photos by Mary Ann Greier)
Studio Arts & Glass president Wendy Warren Joliet and Lisbon Lepper Library Director Marcy Kaiser check some glass samples against one f the stained glass windows unique to the original library building. The windows are being restored this year. (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)
These windows at the historic Lepper Library in Lisbon date back more than 125 years when the original building was constructed. (Photos by Mary Ann Greie
Stained glass craftsman Lonnie Tullof carefully works to remove a section of stained glass window at the Lepper Library, assisted by fellow craftsman James Grey (not picture). (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)
Wendy Warren Joliet of Studio Arts & Glass, a North Canton company which specializes in stained glass restoration, displays a section of window removed for restoration at the Lepper Library in Lisbon. (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)
These windows at the historic Lepper Library in Lisbon date back more than 125 years when the original building was constructed. (Photos by Mary Ann Greier)
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LISBON -- The stained glass windows at the Lepper Library are getting a new shine.
The window project kicked off recently to restore the vibrant colors, repair or replace the cracked pieces and replace the lead came which forms the framework for the glass.
Lepper Library Director Marcy Kaiser said this is part of an ongoing effort to preserve the original Lepper Library structure which has been around for more than 125 years.
"I think this is one of the icon buildings in town. We need to restore it so it lasts another 125 years,' she said.
Patrons may have already noticed that the stained glass windows on the east side of the original building have been removed. The project is expected to take at least a year, with windows individually removed, restored and reinstalled, with the next batch of windows then taken out, restored and reinstalled until all 10 sections are completed from all sides of the building.
"This is considered a historic restoration," Wendy Warren Joliet, president of Studio Arts & Glass of North Canton, explained.
She and her husband Bob started the business about 45 years ago, with Bob having a degree in fine arts and painting and Wendy having a degree in business. The company offers custom designs and works with leaded glass also, but the main focus is stained glass restoration, with churches a large part of their customer base.
Restoration projects completed by Studio Arts & Glass have included everything from the Ohio Statehouse to the nearby Sebring Mansion and St. Patrick's Church in Youngstown.
The restoration of stained glass windows involves a lot of detailed craftsmanship, starting with the removal of the interior wood molding, then the careful removal of the glass pieces and placement of a board in the open space.
"I make a rubbing of the window first to get the exact pattern," Joliet said.
If the existing glass is in good condition, they'll use it again, but some pieces will have to be replaced.
Kokomo Opalescent Glass, the Indiana company which manufactured the stained glass in the windows originally installed at the Lepper Library, remains in business and that's where Joliet will order the new glass pieces. The glass will be made after it's ordered.
She also said the windows will be releaded with new lead came, defined as the lead channel used to form the framework for the stained glass windows. A glazing compound will be used to strengthen the windows and will sit for four days to harden. Each window will be cleaned and brought back to the library for reinstallation. Any wood damaged will be replaced and new storm windows will be installed to preserve the glass. The storm windows will be made of a polycarbonate material.
"Once the windows are cleaned, it's going to be a lot brighter,"Joliet said.
During a recent visit for the removal of the first windows, she came with Kokomo samples to match up the colors. The colors in the windows include gold, blue, brown and an aqua or blue-green.
"The windows have never had a restoration," Kaiser said, although there have been a few repairs. "Nothing's been done for a long time."
A donation from the estate of the late Harold "Bud" Hawkins and Mary Hawkins, a longtime Lisbon area couple, will partially fund the project. Both "Bud" and Mary were described as avid readers when they passed in 2014 and 2021 respectively.
"We would love donations from anybody who wants to help restore the windows," Kaiser said.
Donations can be brought to the library or donors can contact Kaiser. The phone number is 330-424-3117 and her email is Marcy@LepperLibrary.org.
The normal lifespan of a stained glass window is 75 years, so the Lepper Library windows have gone beyond their normal lifespan. The lead which holds the panes starts to break down and Joliet noted "the older it gets, the more it deteriorates."
She was accompanied at the library by craftsmen Lonnie Tullof and James Grey, who had the job of removing the windows for transport to the shop in North Canton. When they bring these two sections of windows back, they'll remove another window section for restoration.
According to the library history, the Lepper Library Association in Lisbon was founded in 1897 with a donation by Virginia Lepper of both the building site on East Lincoln Way and $10,000 in memory of her late husband, Charles Lepper. They were natives of Lisbon who lived most of their adult life in Cleveland, with Charles the grandson of William Lepper, the founder of the first newspaper in Lisbon, the Ohio Patriot in 1808.
The original building was designed by George F. Hammond, of Cleveland, in the Richardson Romanesque style, with construction started the summer of 1897. The new library was dedicated in May 1898. Two additions were added to the original structure, with the first in the late 1960's to house the county bookmobile services, and the second completed in 2010 to add more room for materials, seating and computers.
While the stained glass window project continues, Kaiser said a project to repair the foundation of the original building and replace the air conditioning and furnace is expected to start in the spring, using $175,000 secured through state Rep. Monica Robb Blasdel. The original building roof was replaced at the same time the addition was built in 2010.
To learn more about the services available at the Lepper Library, visit the website at lepperlibrary.org. To learn more about Studio Arts & Glass, visit www.studioartsandglass.com.