Church hoping it can get back antique windows
JANESVILLE — The Rev. Bruce Jones is operating under the assumption that the person or persons who took the church windows thought they were trash.
That’s not just Christian charity talking.
First, it would take a lot of nerve to steal windows from a church—and on a Sunday, too.
Secondly, the antique windows in question were stored near a construction Dumpster.
Sometime last Sunday, someone stole/removed a set of antique windows from the First Presbyterian Church, 17 North Jackson St., Janesville.
The historic church is undergoing extensive renovations, and as part of that project, two arched windows and several smaller square windows were taken out of the building.
After removal, the windows, which were between 75- and 100-years-old were placed near a garbage container, where they sat for several weeks.
“I asked the contractor to put them in the basement, but that didn’t happen,” said Rev. Jones.
But he’s not blaming the contractor because Jones knows that if he had insisted the windows be moved, they would have been moved.
It’s just one of those things.
The windows were made of textured glass, and Jones hoped they would be able to sell them to an architectural restoration firm. People had expressed an interest in buying them, and he had been offered between $30 and $75 for each one.
Of the five that were taken, one was an arched window, three were more traditional rectangular ones and one was a partial window.
Jones estimates each window is worth between $50 and $100.
“I’m sure they thought they were trash,” Jones said.
Jones is willing to extend the spirit of Christian forgiveness to the person who took God’s windows off of God’s property.
Well, that’s not quite the way he put it.
“We don’t need them back, but it would be nice to have a donation,” Jones said.
Oct 19, 2008 at 5:15 p.m.
Suggest removal
you would think if he wanted the windows he wouldnt have left them by the dumpster for 2 weeks. anything left near the trash is fair game. next time maybe he will be more carefull about throwing something away.
Oct 18, 2008 at 9:56 a.m.
Suggest removal
Windows and doors are not stored outside where they are exposed to the elements. They are only weatherproof when they have been properly installed in a building. The jambs, interior components and hardware will suffer greatly from exposure to just one rainfall. At least cover them with a tarp, get them up off the ground, and check them for moisture after a rain.
Oct 18, 2008 at 9:19 a.m.
Suggest removal
I really doubt the person who stole them was someone desperate to feed his family. They were likely stolen by a "professional" junk-picker with connections in the architectural salvage world. The windows are probably already in Chicago or someplace where they will disappear into the stream of legitimate demolition materials.
Oct 18, 2008 at 8:51 a.m.
Suggest removal
Sitting next to a dumpster or not, on private property no less. I agree that they werent in the best place for antique windows but its still stealing, the person or persons did not have permission from the owner to aquire those windows, even if they were IN the dumpster on private church property its still Stealing no matter how you look at it. Regardless of what the person "thought" they were for no permission = stealing.
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