FRANKLYWNOW - Historic stained glass finds new home at Anchorage cathedral

The big white church on the corner of H Street and Fifth Avenue is among the oldest in Anchorage. Holy Family Cathedral was built in 1915, and this week the historic building added even more history from thousands of miles away.

“These window are from Franz Mayer, a Bulgarian artist,” said Father Anthony Patalano.

Six stained glass masterpieces arrived at the cathedral this week. They were rescued from Our Lady of the Holy Rosary church in Philadelphia, which closed in 2013.

Each window is estimated to be 125 years old. Stained glass experts from Beyer Studio in Philadelphia restored the windows and shipped them to Anchorage for installation.

Glass painter Bryan Willette helped in the process.

“All the glass gets cleaned, repaired, repainted as necessary, and then the window is rebuilt,” Willette said.

This project was two and half years in the making. Each window tells a story, which will now be seen for generations to come.

“You never want to see anything go to waste, but something that someone put a lot of work into and was very proud of at one time, to see that still there to be seen by other people is a pretty good feeling,” Willette said.

The six windows installed weigh about 2,000 pounds total. Willette said the most challenging part of the project was not breaking anything.

“To know that we were able to take these pieces of artwork, move them to another place where they can be seen all the time is a big deal,” Willette said.

The windows are pieces of history restored to their original beauty.

“I think when people see these they will be quite impressed by them. They are quite lovely, they’re quite inspirational,” Patalano said.

KTVA 11’s Shannon Ballard can be reached via email or on Facebook and Twitter.

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