Thompson Hall Windows Restoration 
Historic Thompson Hall, a Richardsonian Romanesque building designed by the prominent New Hampshire architectural firm Down and Randlett, was completed in 1893. With its clock tower, cruciform layout, and six stained glass windows, it was designed in a popular medieval style, as a sort of cathedral of learning.This is the signature building, and the oldest campus building, at the University of New Hampshire, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today, the building has undergone its first comprehensive exterior restoration, carefully replicating original materials to bring Thompson Hall back to its original splendor.
A finishing touch was to design, fabricate, and install historic replications of the stained glass windows, which apparently were removed in the 1940s or ’50s during a renovation in which the stairwell was modified and a door was installed at ground level.
Renovation planners knew that the original specifications called for stained glass windows on the east elevation, according to UNH project manager Brenda Whitmore ’81, ’02G. The windows are also shown in the blueprints and in black and white photos that were used for historical analysis of the entire building.
To recreate the windows, architects Goody Clancy, Inc. of Boston, Mass., hired Julie L. Sloan, stained glass historian and consultant of North Adams, Mass., to research cathedral glass from the period. Using historical archive data, the enlarged black and white photographs, original building specifications, and blueprint elevations, Sloan determined the color palette. Glass types and colors are based on those used in decorative American windows of the 1890s. As a result, what we see today is the interpretation of that analysis based upon historical research.
Serpentino Stained & Leaded Glass, Inc. of Needham, Mass., restoration and preservation specialists, was hired to recreate the designs that Sloan provided. Representatives of the University of New Hampshire, and builders Shawmut Design and Construction, architects Goody Clancy Inc., and consultant Julie L. Sloan together reviewed a mockup of the window design and collaborated on final approval.
There is a mystery to glass as it captures light and glows from within. Today, all who visit the University may take pleasure in contemplating the warm, translucent light and jewel colors of Thompson Hall’s distinctive stained glass windows.