FORMER CHURCH SHINES IN NEW LIGHT; STAINED GLASS PIECES WILL BE SOLD AT SALE

When it comes to pieces of old stained glass, Leslie and Linda Cochran have a lot of it.

The glass was removed from windows at a nearly century-old former Baptist church that the Cape Girardeau couple now call home.

Linda Cochran said they plan to sell the pieces at a "garage sale" Saturday, from 7 a.m. to noon. "For someone who has fond memories of that church, it might be a nice souvenir," she said.

"There are probably close to 100 small pieces right now," said Cochran.

She said that since they began restoring the building at the corner of Broadway and Spanish five years ago, they have heard from a number of people who were married, baptized or attended the former church.

"It's amazing how many people have so many fond memories of the building," she noted.

Cochran said the wooden frames around the vaulted windows are being restored. "It is amazing after 100 years that it is still salvageable.

"We are putting in all new stained glass," she noted. The new glass sections are different in color than the old stained glass.

The five windows on the Spanish Street side of the building have been renovated and the new stained glass installed. Work remains to be done on five similar-sized windows, two smaller windows, and two huge windows, she said.

The Cochrans purchased the old brick church in 1987. They subsequently renovated the rear portion of the church, built in 1954, for use as their residence.

Cochran said they have been living in the building for the past 3 years, while continuing to renovate the church itself, in particular the exterior of the building.

"Last summer we had all the bricks cleaned and then we had them sealed."

A sandstone wall was built along the base of the building on the Broadway side. New curbs and street lights were installed, as well as a park bench.

"Then there were these great, big electrical cables running down the side of the church. We had them removed and paid to have all those cables buried," said Cochran, explaining that they felt the old electrical lines had detracted from the view.

Recently, a whole new roof was put on the building.

"We have done some structural improvements on the inside," said Cochran. A section of rotted flooring was replaced. "We've done a lot of clearing of debris and so forth. There is still a lot of work to do," she said.

"I would like to get it done before we leave." Leslie Cochran, provost at Southeast Missouri State University, was recently hired as president of Youngstown State University in Ohio. He begins his new job July 1.

"We would love to keep it," Linda Cochran said of the old church building. "But it is probably more realistic for us to sell it. I hate to, because it is not done yet."

She said they want to get all the window work completed this summer.

"Our biggest goal since last summer has really been to get the outside done," said Cochran, pointing to the need to have the former church "externally restored and secured from the weather."

She said they originally had hoped to renovate the inside of the main section of the church for a "commercial endeavor," although no specific plans were ever finalized.

"I guess we just like to do unusual things," she said of the renovation project. "Les has some architectural background and he is challenged by that."

The steeple-topped church was built in 1893 by the First Baptist congregation. In 1927, it was sold to the First General Baptist congregation, which later sold it to the Free Will Baptist congregation.

The Free Will group occupied the building from 1974 until Feb. 1, 1984, when fire, suspected to be arson, damaged much of the church.

At that time, the congregation elected to build a new church on Kage Road rather than try to repair the old church, which suffered extensive interior damage.

The building remained vacant until the Cochrans purchased it.