NILES — About a year ago, Niles native Bruce Vosburgh and his wife, Lorrie, moved their small, temporary stained-glass studio to an industrial complex.

Suddenly, they had the space to host stained glass art classes, a kiln and displays on top of their space for stained glass restoration, repair and fusing.

Their 34-year-old business, BLV Stained Glass, is now in the former Niles Steel Tank factory at 713 Wayne St. The business is a short walk from the Amtrak train station but in the midst of Niles’ former industrial neighborhood. It is one of a few businesses occupying the formerly empty factories.

Like how the Niles Steel Tank factory was spared from deterioration by BLV, Vosburgh wants to save the art of stained glass from deterioration by teaching it to others.

“My whole goal is to just teach more people how to do stained glass because it’s one of the arts that are disappearing,” he said. “There’s not many people that do it. Machines just can’t do it like we can.”

Box stores’ stained-glass products are not high quality, he said. That is why, starting next Monday, Vosburgh will offer beginner classes in making stained glass art.

“Cutting glass is easy,” he said. “Making a stained-glass window or lamp takes experience. I give them their first experience with stained glass.”

Vosburgh recently began offering classes with his new, larger workspace, and he has a room dedicated to teach attendees how to cut glass, ground its edges, apply copper foil, solder and design.

The goal, he said, is to have each attendee come up with their own design and see it through. The result will be a window of sorts, likely about 1 foot long.

“Basically, you design a jigsaw puzzle,” he said. “You cut it out, cut the pattern out and then put it back together with a piece of glass.”

Attendees have two class options: from 1 to 3 p.m. or 6 to 8 p.m. Mondays. The classes can last between four and six weeks, and Vosburgh said he will be there to help at every step.

“Some people catch onto the first couple steps, other people catch on the last couple steps,” he said. “So, somebody brand new will fit right in.”

All tools and glass will be provided, he said. All that is needed are safety glasses and close-toed shoes.

The glass attendees work with will come from Vosburgh’s supply room. There, the glass is arranged by size, from 4 feet long to shards, and color, from translucent pearl to deep purple.

Next to the glass are supplies necessary for stained glass repair and restoration. Most of the glass and supplies are available for purchase.

As stained glass struggles to be passed on as an art form, Vosburgh said stained glass suppliers are becoming more difficult to come by. Prior to using a temporary workspace in Dowagiac, Vosburgh, working solely on custom orders at home, ordered from a local supplier. When that person died, he began traveling to Warrenville, Illinois to buy from the largest stained-glass supplier in the 48 continuous states.

Making the right purchase in color is especially important for restoration and repair, he said. When sand is melted into a “cold honey” and additives are added to give color, Vosburgh said the result makes no two stained-glass pieces alike.

That can make finding a color and pattern similar to an old piece needing repair or restoration difficult.

Despite their difficulty, Vosburgh has been repairing and restoring stained glass since 1985. Within the week, he will begin restoring the stained glass above the doorways of Chapin Mansion with no price tag attached.

In terms of repairing BLV’s industrial property, Vosburgh said updates are still needed.

“I still got a long way to go out here,” he said. “This is just getting going, but I had to have a place to work.”