(La Porte County, IN) - A request to restore the over 80 stained glass windows at the historic county courthouse in La Porte appears to have regained some momentum.

 

The La Porte County Council last night voted to encourage the La Porte County Commissioners to reconsider their recent 2 to 1 decision against providing money to cover the estimated $5,000 to $14,000 cost of creating an inventory for the windows.

 

The motion also included a committment by the council to find the money if the commissioners reconsider. 

 

The motion was made by Justin Kiel and seconded by Randy Novak after they announced their support for the request.

 

“We’ll find a way to find the funding if the commissioners reconsider it,” Kiel said.

 

The commissioners turned down the request at a time when county government will be losing two million or more dollars annually due to statewide property tax reform signed into law by the governor in the spring.

 

Leigh Morris, a former La Porte mayor, is asking for the money to create an inventory of the windows that includes a report on their condition and where each one ranks as a priority for restoring over a 10 year period.

 

Morris said the condition of the windows is not alarming but they are getting to the point of needing restoration.  An expert review of the windows showed things like cracks, missing pieces of glass and rotting in some of the frames.

 

“There’s nothing absolutely drastic or threatening at the moment but it’s on the way to that,” he said.

 

Kiel said he agrees with Morris the windows are important to preserve.

 

“Those stained glass windows in that courthouse are part of our collective heritage.  There’s never going to be another courthouse like that built ever again.  That’s the only one we got so it’s worth making sure we maintain those things,” he said.