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Historic windows come home
By Craig Eley

On a warm morning in late January 2004, ten people entered the basement of the First Unitarian Church, a century-old edifice located at 1400 Lafayette Street, in central Denver, Colorado. In the dark, low-ceilinged basement there was a large wooden crate which, when pried open, revealed dozens of stained-glass windows in various stages of disrepair.

These windows had once graced the sanctuary of First Plymouth Congregational UCC, when that congregation had owned the old stone building. On this day, the windows were going to be carried up out of the dim cellar and brought home.
Former Colorado Governor William Sweet and his wife, Joyeuse, had given the windows to First Plymouth in 1940. Sweet had held a number of local and national positions in the Congregational Church (in the last year of his life, for example, he traveled 14,000 miles and delivered 50 speeches on behalf of the Congregational Church).

First Plymouth sold the Lafayette Street building to First Unitarian Church in 1958 and built a new home on Denver’s southern border. In 1987, the Lafayette building caught fire, and the interior was severely damaged. The Sweet windows suffered smoke and heat damage, but retained their structural integrity. In the renovation that followed, First Unitarian removed the windows and replaced them with others, which more closely reflected their faith traditions.

In 2003, First Plymouth members Pat Vandermiller and Janet Rich went to First Unitarian to photograph parts of the building for a First Plymouth history exhibit. While on a tour of the church, they were taken to the basement, where their guide pointed out a wooden crate and said, “That box holds all your church’s old windows. Isn’t it a shame that they are just collecting dust?”

After further inquiries by Pat and Janet, First Unitarian offered the windows to First Plymouth at no charge. Pat and Janet began investigating, and they learned that Frank Watkins of Watkins Stained Glass Studio had created the windows. They tracked down his grandson, Phillip Watkins, Jr., who still operates the family stained glass business in a Littleton studio. So on that day in January 2004, Phil and his wife, Jane, were there to help and to lend their expertise in handling the fragile windows as they were removed from the crate by First Plymouth members and carried into waiting pick-up trucks and vans for transporting to First Plymouth.

One window has been restored and framed by Phil Watkins, and was placed in First Plymouth’s narthex in time for the October celebration of the church’s 140th anniversary.

First Plymouth is now researching how best to restore/display and/or install the windows so that all may enjoy the rich beauty of these historic windows.

Photos courtesy of Pat Vandermiller.

Published - Dec. 2004 - News of the Rocky Mountain Conference, United Church News