mc300502@ohiou.edu
Six stained glass windows dating back to the nineteenth century now add history and elegance to the window wells of Margaret M. Walter Hall, Ohio University's newest classroom building.
Originally displayed in Ewing Hall, the windows were stored in the Jefferson Hall parking garage when Ewing was demolished in 1974. According to Betty Hollow's Ohio University, 1804-2004: The Spirit of a Singular Place, Ewing Hall, a Victorian-style building that included a gymnasium, the president's office and chemistry lab when it was built in 1898, stood where the Scripps Amphitheater exists today. The six stained glass windows decorated the wall behind the stage in Ewing's auditorium.
According to Post archives, OU officials made specific efforts to keep the stained glass windows when Ewing was demolished. The November 1974 issue of Ohio University Alumnus Magazine lists William Cotter and Sons, of Cincinnati, and the Riordan Company, of Covington, Kentucky, as the manufacturers of the windows.
In the mid-nineties, the university moved the windows into storage in The Ridges. René Glidden, wife of former OU President Robert Glidden, took an interest in the windows after she saw one in need of restoration in 1994. She then spoke with Assistant Vice President for Facilities Planning John Kotowski roughly nine years later about restoring and utilizing the windows.
Kotowski said discussion concerning the use of the windows led to the current installation in Walter Hall. Possible damage to the windows, among other reasons, eliminated the possibility of using the stained glass windows as actual ones, he said.
Kotowski said restoring, building light boxes to backlight the windows and installing the windows in Walter Hall cost between $80,000 and $90,000. Franklin Art Glass, of Columbus, restored the windows, which Kotowski said were in poor shape and needed some glass replacement.
Years of storage were hard on them
he said.
Money for the project came from the Walter gift, Kotowski said. Ewing Hall, named for Thomas Ewing -one of OU's first graduates -has an important place in the university's history, he said. This, along with the visual connections to education in the stained glass windows, was a reason for restoring them.
Four windows depict women reminiscent of Renaissance and Classical art, with the inscriptions Art Science History and Education. The women's faces and limbs are painted, and the women illustrate their fields. In the education window, the woman sits gracefully and speaks to a curious child. The last two windows, which are displayed on each end, feature floral-inspired leaded designs in rich tones of red, yellow and pink. The windows stand along the wall facing Bicentennial Park and The Convo and are the same height as the building's functioning ones.
Kotowski said the decision to put the windows in Walter Hall was made after the building's completion.
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Megan Chew
