LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - SEPTEMBER 24, 2023 by Lynne Belluscio A group of people gathered at St. Mark’s Church on Sunday to acknowledge the work that has been done to restore and preserve their historic stained-glass windows. Restoring windows on a building that is more than 150 years old requires a lot of teamwork. That was pretty obvious as Dennis Millander shared some of the stories of how the window restoration came to fruition. In order to set everything in motion, it was first necessary to get the church on the National Register of Historic Places and after a couple of starts that didn’t pan out, Ann Verhague tackled the job. I can tell you from experience, that writing a nomination for the National Register is a tough job, but Ann was successful. Once the church was on the National Register, it was eligible for a grant from the New York State Sacred Sites Foundation. It should be noted that this is not money from New York State, but an independent foundation. Once again, St. Mark’s was successful and received $10,000. The good news is that they can apply again in five years. So now, with money in hand, some fundraising and Anne Verhague as the architect, to oversee the project, the work was begun by some very special contractors. Gary Fink and Don Chmielowiec tackled the huge rose window that faces Main Street. The huge mesh protective screen was removed, the wooden tracery was scraped and rotten wood was replaced. Gary did not use pressure treated wood, but was able to find compressed ash that is used in Europe, where pressure treated wood is forbidden. The work on the rose window was featured on the front page of the Batavia Daily. Next, work on the side windows began. The tall storm windows were removed and taken to Gary’s shop where he replaced rotten wood. The old paint was removed by Dennis Melander who built a special steam box to soften the paint. Chuck Dusen repaired and cleaned all the window hardware. All the window repairs sound like routine work, until you realize that all the windows on the west side of the church, are four stories up from the creek. At first there was talk of using a boom from the street with Gary in a harness. But that plan for several reasons didn’t work, not the least of which included a $30,000 permit from the State. Next there was talk of scaffolding but that wasn’t a solution. Finally, a lift was secured, and the challenge was to get it down to the west side of the church. Thanks to Bob Lathan, Church Street was closed off long enough to get the lift down the embankment. Gary removed the storm windows and took them to his shop. Gary also discovered a window on the west side that the folks from the church had forgotten about. It is in the sacristy. The scope of the work, especially on the west side of the church, was pretty obvious as the group of folks on Sunday, ventured down the two long flights of stairs to the area on the creekbank and looked up at the windows that had been restored and painted. The restoration project not only included the windows, but also doors and the pillars on either side of the doors. Some of the pillars were nearly rotten. Gary fashioned “feet” of synthetic decking with small groves that allows the water to drain away. This was the same type of construction that Gary had used on the feet of the pump house at LeRoy House. While the group was touring the church, folks were able to learn about the history of the windows. Dennis pointed out, that there are still questions about where the windows were made, and he continues to search through the church files for more answers. Doug Hill, a member of the church has been able to provide a lot of information that he has discovered. Also, on Sunday, the new historic marker that will be installed in front of the church, was on display. This marker, that designates both St. Mark’s Church and the cemetery on the corner of St. Mark’s Street, was acquired through a grant from the Pomeroy Foundation. The Pomeroy Foundation, located in Syracuse, makes historic markers available to public buildings listed on the National Register. LeRoy has several markers: Marion Steam Shovel, Presbyterian Church, Machpelah Cemetery, and the LeRoy Main Street District. Today when I got a call saying that the pole for the new marker would be put in place, I made a quick call to Leslie Delooze to see if she had the keys to let the guys in to pick up the pole. Yep, if they needed to get in, she could let them in. Leslie has been a part of this project since it began. They say it takes a village and for St. Mark’s Church that is certainly the case. I was happy to be a part of the project and I also think that Ruth Harvie, Seely Pratt and Nancy Baker are looking down and smiling. St. Mark’s Windows
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