HUNTSVILLE, Texas (KTRK) -- In the early hours of the morning on Feb. 12, 1982, smoke billowed out of the Old Main building at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville.
The nearly century-old academic hall succumbed to the flames. The cause is still a mystery.
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The fire claimed a collection of stained-glass windows. One of those windows, the Sam Houston Memorial Window, which stood 17 feet high by seven feet wide, had served to honor Sam Houston and the heroes of Texas.
An accounting student at the university, Joe Janczak couldn't stand to see that beautiful window commemorating Texas history remain shattered in the ashes of the destroyed building. So Jaczak started an immense restoration project on the windows some years later, piecing the window back together, one shard at a time.
Sam Houston State University alumnus Joe Janczak rebuilt 17-foot stained glass windows honoring Sam Houston and Texas heroes (KTRK Photo/ Jason Fochtman/Cypress Creek Mirror)
Sam Houston State University alumnus Joe Janczak rebuilt 17-foot stained glass windows honoring Sam Houston and Texas heroes (KTRK Photo/ Jason Fochtman/Cypress Creek Mirror)
The Sam Houston Memorial Window was shattered after the fire that destroyed the Old Main building of SHSU in 1982. (KTRK Photo/ Jason Fochtman/Cypress Creek Mirror)
Sam Houston State University alumnus Joe Janczak shows old images of the 17-foot stained glass window he rebuilt (KTRK Photo/ Jason Fochtman/Cypress Creek Mirror)
The 17-foot stained glass windows honoring Sam Houston and Texas heroes (KTRK Photo/ Jason Fochtman/Cypress Creek Mirror)
Sam Houston State University alumnus Joe Janczak rebuilt 17-foot stained glass windows honoring Sam Houston and Texas heroes (KTRK Photo/ Jason Fochtman/Cypress Creek Mirror)