Naperville Woman’s Club preserving stained-glass window
The stained-glass window adorning the Naperville Woman’s Club building has remained largely intact for 114 years.
With a little work this weekend, members hope to preserve it for at least 114 more.
A professional stained-glass restoration group will be on site through Saturday working to repair the window’s millwork and install a new protective covering.
The former German Evangelical People’s Church at 14 S. Washington St. is the sole 19th-century building in downtown Naperville built in the Gothic Revival style. The club has owned it since 1925 and recently had it listed as a Naperville landmark.
The window, featuring several biblical passages, was part of the original structure in 1899.
“People know our purple door, but this window is truly the signature feature of the landmark facade,” said Georgiann Baldino of Naperville, chairwoman of the club’s building committee. “We consider it to be a beautiful, historic piece of the community.”
The club had a Plexiglas cover put over the window in 1973, but it has fallen away from the building, leaving the window exposed.
The $6,000 project will include removing the window and Plexiglas. Before resetting the window, crews will apply a new acrylic cover and repair the millwork.
“Thankfully, the window is in good shape,” Baldino said. “The $6,000 is cheap compared to the cost of restoring stained glass.”
Earlier this year club members participated in the Human Race sponsored by Giving DuPage and sponsored a jewelry party to help raise money to preserve the window. Any costs not covered by those ventures came from the club’s budget.
“We had money set aside from last year to take care of it, so we did a little less in terms of (college) scholarships,” Baldino said. “Going forward, though, we’ll be able to continue to give scholarships and donate to charity at the levels we have in previous years.”
Weather permitting, the work is expected to be completed this weekend.