New life for Cedar Rapids Treasure

CEDAR RAPIDS -- The flood-damaged, Grant Wood window is coming out of the Veterans Memorial Building, each of its 58 stained-glass panels to be crated and driven to a studio in Davenport for repair.

The restoration work on the window, put in place in 1929, will take up to 34 weeks to complete at a cost of $147,000.

There may be additional costs to repair or replace the window's wooden frame and to replace safety glass protecting both sides of the historic window, reports Mike Jager, the city's veterans memorial director.

Glass Heritage LLC of Davenport bested four other design firms -- including ones in Philadelphia, Chicago and Kansas City -- to win the job of fixing the window of designed by Cedar Rapids treasure, artist Grant Wood.

The city's Jager says there is an added plus for veterans because John Watts, one of three founding owners of Glass Heritage, now has a big part of the responsibility for the Grant Wood window.

Watts, Jager notes, is a Vietnam War veteran who has wrestled with the aftereffects of war. In particular, Watts says post-traumatic stress and exposure to Agent Orange have caused him problems.

Because he is a veteran, Watts says the Veterans Memorial Building's signature window -- which features a huge image of a rising angel of peace "welcoming all veterans home" as well as a depiction of soldiers from the nation's six major wars through World War I -- has special meaning to him and his partners.

"We are acutely aware that this is a one-of-a-kind piece," says Watts. "Are we nervous about it? We're nervous about every piece of glass we touch. If we weren't, we wouldn't be good."

Watts says Grant Wood's devotion to the land is reflected in the actual feel of the paint on the stained-glass window.

He says, too, that there is no question that the June 2008 flood damaged the window, causing bowing and some cracking in some of the 1,000 or more pieces of stained glass in the window.

Nonetheless, he says the window overall is in "decent shape" for its 80-year age.

"We're just going to take it and give it a new life," Watts says.

In the restoration, the cost of which a city insurance policy will cover, the city's Jager says there is some thought being given to leaving damage in place in one small section of the window as a reminder of the flood.

Watts, 60, says he is originally from New York City. His life eventually took him to the Quad Cities, where he spent some years as director of operations at the entertainment venue, The Mark of the Quad Cities. Ten years ago, he decided to spend all his time working on stained glass, and he left The Mark to open his own business and store in Davenport with two other partners. He's been working in stained glass for 28 years, he says.

Watts calls the Grant Wood window "amazing" and the work required to fix it "meticulous."

Late Friday afternoon, he reported that the removal of the window was moving ahead on schedule and should be complete this week. About a third of the 58 glass panels already were in Glass Heritage's shop, he said.

"We've hit some tough spots in the putty where it's been baked in for the last 80 years," Watts said. "But for the most part it's been textbook."