Church of St. Francis Xavier on 16th St. in New York City is built in the grand baroque style and was designed by the prolific Irish architect Patrick Charles Keely in 1882. The architectural muscle of the building as illustrated in carved granite is much less restrained than similar European buildings of this style. The colorful Arts & Crafts style stained glass windows are attributed to Thomas and John Morgan, one of the earliest stained glass studios in NYC. The Morgan studio made the first windows for St. Patrick’s Cathedral as well.

Femenella & Associates was contracted to restore the monumental stained glass, historic wood windows and to replace the exterior protective glazing as part of a $6 million dollar restoration project that is currently in its final phase. Work should be complete by January of 2011.

Femenella & Associates also handled the scaffolding and protection of the Sanctuary during phases II and III. F&A worked closely with Thomas A. Fenniman, project architect and the church staff to develop a schedule that minimized the adverse affects that often accompany a large project such as this. Scaffold was erected, windows removed or installed and scaffold taken down in 12 day cycles, so only one Sunday a month saw scaffold still in place.

The stained glass was completely releaded. The wood frames were fully restored including wood Dutchman and epoxy repairs and the complete replacement of severely damaged wood members and moldings. The framing system was uniquely altered to allow for an isothermal protective glazing system to be installed with no unfavorable affect on the original design aesthetic. The windows of St. Francis will colorfully illuminate the restored Sanctuary for the centuries to come.