Minneapolis' Basilica of St. Mary restoration hits halfway point as historic stained glass is removed
Crews are about halfway through one of the biggest restorations the Twin Cities has ever seen. Every square inch of the country's oldest basilica is being restored. Crews have started what is perhaps the most delicate day of the year-long project.
According to Johan van Parys, director of liturgy at the Basilica of St. Mary, things are moving along.
"The end of September is actually the halfway point, so it's very exciting. We have accomplished a lot, but we also have a lot more to do. Things so far are on schedule, yes," he said.
Excitement is building as they tear down every inch of this building that was constructed starting in 1908. The hope is that the $50 million in donations will make it last 120 more years.
The latest project: meticulously removing the trademark windows.
"There's a horizontal story which tells the story of the life of Mary, both her private life and then her public life," van Parys said.
After taking bids, they realized a company in New Jersey could restore them. But first, brothers Erik and Tommy Walther, with Northeast Stained Glass, who traveled for the job, had to very carefully remove them.
After a series of delicate and perilous pulls, they took the glass, which is dark without light behind it, down six floors of scaffolding to a safer place.
Erik Walther showed WCCO how they pack pieces into padded crates.
"The idea is to keep it so you don't have a lot of movement in the panel; you also don't want it too tight either," he said.
"Thomas Gaytee, who created the windows, he speaks about the windows at the Basilica of St. Mary as the crown jewel of his work. And so we have really a treasure of windows here," van Parys said.
Windows that are truly being handled with care. Van Parys says soon they will be "magnificent."
Crews will pack and crate the windows for a trip to New Jersey, where artists will restore them.
This large project has a hard deadline of Palm Sunday 2027.