Resurrecting The Past: Preservation of a 118-year-old-stained Glass Inverted Dome

Resurrecting The Past:  Preservation of a 118-year-old-stained Glass Inverted Dome

WCAPT with Nzilani Glass Conservation invite you to a preservation webinar.

Wednesday, February 5th, 2025

12:30pm - 2:00pm PT

Project Background

Nzilani Glass Conservation recently conserved a 10-foot diameter, inverted stained glass dome in the historic Christian Science church on 1701 Franklin. The church was recently purchased by Resurrection Oakland Church, who contracted Nzilani to preserve the 118-year-old piece in their West Oakland Studio after an initial assessment identified unstable previous bad repairs.

Pastor Brent Webster was excited that the conservation could be done by a qualified local company: “The heartbeat of our church is to be a community of people who love and serve Oakland, or as we say, ‘A church not just for ourselves but for the good of Oakland.’ Although different, I see lots of overlap in (Nzilani’s and) our work.”

The dome was designed by Charles Grolle in 1902 and constructed by the firm of Flannigan and Biedeveg of Chicago, Illinois. Originally installed below the skylight of the First Church of Christ, the curved, 12 panel, multi-colored dome has undergone at least one partial repair since construction but has not been completely conserved to its original state until now, preserving an important artifact of early 20th century Bay Area architecture. 

Keen-eyed stained-glass enthusiasts will note a subtle color gradation from light rose glass at the border to gold pink in the center, similar to that found at Stanford Memorial Church. Also unique are stained, three-dimensional beveled glass pieces rarely seen by the team’s experience which spans back to pieces from the 12th century.

The building at 1701 Franklin St. in downtown Oakland is a Romanesque-revival-style church built by First Church of Christ, Scientist, Oakland. The cornerstone was laid in 1900, and the building was opened and dedicated free of debt on January 5, 1902. Designed by Henry A. Schulze out of Nevada limestone 1, the church has a number of large original stained-glass windows that were designed by Charles Grolle and made in Chicago, Illinois by the firm of Flannigan and Biedeveg.

Minor repairs were needed to the church following the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 and in the 1906 earthquake. In late 2015, the church held a farewell Christmas concert. The church building was sold was to become the headquarters of Jeremy’s, a local women’s clothing chain, but the owner of the chain announced in early November 2016 that these plans had fallen through due to permitting delays.

In July of 2019, a relatively new church known as Resurrection Oakland Church purchased the property, and they recently announced plans to begin holding services in the building on September 15, 2019. 6 On August 13, 2019, Nzilani Glass of Oakland started a restoration project on some of the stained-glass windows in the building.

The original First Church of Christ, Scientist has consolidated with the Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist, and the consolidated First Church meets in the former Tenth Church’s building at 1880 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. 

Photo Credit: Nzilani

Topics include:

Historical Context: Repurposing a church from retail back to a church.

Identification:  Structural & stability issues specific to stained & leaded glass domes.

Health & Safety:  Considerations for working with stained glass domes.

Cross-disciplinary Work:  Engineers, metalsmiths, stained glass, scaffolding and documentation participants.

Registration:

$5 (WCAPT Members)

$10 (Non-Members)

$0 (Student Members)

Event Schedule:

12:30 – Welcome by Michelle Langlie, WCAPT President

12:35 – Methodology, Discoveries and Treatment by Ariana Makau

About the speaker:

Ariana Makau, President & Principal Conservator of Nzilani Glass, MA Stained Glass Conservation

The company’s founder, Ariana Makau, is the second person in the world – and the first woman – to receive a master’s degree in Stained Glass Conservation from the Royal College of Art in London. Equally comfortable on a job site, at a board meeting or in a museum, Makau has over 25 years of experience with art and architectural preservation.  She was previously a Board Member and Health and Safety Chair of the Stained-Glass Association of America, is currently on the Board of the Western Chapter of the Association of Preservation Technology and a Fellow of AIC. Before Nzilani, she worked at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, London’s V&A Museum, and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Makau’s presentations at national conferences bridge the gap between health & safety regulators and those involved in stained-glass. Approachable and non-judgmental, Ariana enjoys sharing her professional experience in classroom and public talks. She is currently the Interim Collections C.A.R.E. Director of Destination Crenshaw where she highlights the importance of preserving cultural landscapes within the environment.