Restoration in action: Christ in Majesty
La Farge's masterpiece, often described as the most important piece of stained glass art in the United States, took up residence at Cohoes Design Glass Associates, Inc. in Cohoes, New York. The studio took the window apart, cleaned it and edge-joined broken glass. It was a complicated window to restore, being composed of hundreds of golf-ball-sized, half-round cast jewels of which virtually none are identical. During restoration, it was also discovered that the onyx columns in the window had eroded and became matte and fragile and would require special conservation methods. We're especially proud of this work and grateful to have the window restored in its place at Trinity.
Here's a list of some of the projects accomplished our major preservation and expansion project:
Interior
- Cleaned and repaired the John La Farge murals and decorative paint in the central tower interior.
- Installed a new, state of the art sound system
- Restored Chancel and Nave Aeolian-Skinner Organs
Stained Glass Windows
More than 125 years' worth of grim and pollutants had left the windows dull and dark. Cleaned and restored key stained glass windows include:
- Ascension (Eugene Oudinot, South Transept)
- Bradley Memorial (Margaret Redmond, Parish House)
- Day of Pentecost (Eugene Oudinot, South Transept)
- Ephphatha (Burlison and Grylls of London, Sacristy)
- Jesus Blessing the Children (Henry Holiday, West Tower)
- New Jerusalem (John La Farge, West Tower)
- Presentation of Mary (John La Farge, West Tower)
- Purity (John La Farge, Parish House)
- Sarah Wyman Whitman Memorial (Sarah Wyman Whitman, Parish House)
- Resurrection (Eugene Oudinot, South Transept)
- Christ in Majesty (John La Farge, three panel clerestory window on the west end of the church)
Exterior
- Re-pointed the central tower's stonework, repaired the roof of the tower and replaced wooden window trim.
- Repaired and cleaned arts and crafts windows in the central tower designed by La Farge and installed protective glass.
Basement and Foundation
- Transformed the church basement (the "undercroft") into meeting space and a new book shop, also providing updated restrooms and better handicap access
- Sealed foundation walls against moisture
- Reviewed pilings beneath the building and repaired those touched by rot
- Green Technology: Installed six geo-thermal wells that form the basis of Trinity's new environmentally friendly heating and cooling system.