The ‘Great Window’ Stained Glass Laylight Restoration is Complete at the Missouri State Capitol

The restoration of the “Great Window” stained glass laylight at the Missouri State Capitol building is complete — thanks to a collaboration among Prost Builders, Professional Metal Fabricators, and California-based Judson Studios. 

“It is exciting to see the conservation of this iconic work of art. H. T. Schladermundt was an incredible early 20^th-century artist known for incorporating vivid themes and extraordinary detail in his work,” Dana Rademan Miller, the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives and member of the Missouri State Capitol Commission, said in an emailed statement. “Now, over a century after its original installation, we are happy to see the full restoration of the ‘Great Window’ so that it will be enjoyed by future generations of visitors to the Missouri State Capitol.”

The restoration project began in October 2022 with Prost Builders acting as the general contractor. Jason Bias, project manager for Prost Builders, got to work assembling a crew to restore the stained glass, steel structure, lightwell and ornamental frame for the stained-glass. 

Here, Bias, along with two of the subcontractors for the job, discuss the historical project. 

“The general contractor, Prost Builders, initially invited us to bid on the project. After winning the contract, we worked with a prominent stained glass conservator, Julie Sloan, on the restoration guidelines and procedures until it was completed,” said Kyle Mickelson, project manager at Judson Studio.

The stained glass had to be carefully removed, and all 57 panels had to be boxed and shipped to Judson Studios in Los Angeles to be cleaned and in some areas, rebuilt, prior to being shipped back a year later.  

“Our initial roadblock began with the enormous amount of damage the laylight had sustained over the years,” Mickelson said. “A lot of the restoration effort and labor centered around repairing and preserving this broken glass and reusing as much as possible.”

While the stained glass was being restored, Professional Metal Fabricators won their bid on the project and got to work on the support structure for the stained glass — and some issues arose. 

“Whenever we first got involved, the bars originally were on top of the glass. Obviously they didn’t work, so after many phone calls and Teams meetings and all that, we finally decided to try to put bars underneath,” said Kenney Schwartze, general manager at Professional Metal Fabricators. “The problem is that frame is held up by sag rods — so it’s not square, it’s not true — so you’re basically having to almost special measure every single curvature and every single piece to get it to fit and that was quite the task.”

Getting the curvature to fit was the biggest roadblock for the Professional Metal Fabricators crew. “The double curve is what threw everything off,” he said, because they had to make sure the contour was consistent with the glass curvature. However, after lots of mockups and phone calls, they were able to complete it. 

While Mickelson said that Judson Studios is no stranger to historical projects, both Bias and Schwartze note that this is the first historical project their companies have worked on. Now that it’s complete, visitors can ooh and ahh over the beauty of this stained-glass restoration at the Missouri State Capitol. 

“Judson Studios is proud to have been a part of this historic restoration at the Missouri State Capitol. We believe that stained glass is an important piece of the American arts and crafts tapestry, and its preservation is vital to maintaining a complete understanding of the history and trajectory of art and architecture in this country,” Mickelson said. “We love the challenge of a complex project like this and what it teaches us about glass as a medium. We take lessons from every project — be it restoration or new work, artistic or architectural, traditional leaded or fused glass — and use it to better the quality of our work and push the boundaries of what is possible with glass.”