Republic Windows and Doors could reopen in as little as a month under new ownership, following a bankruptcy court ruling.

The plant will start with a skeleton staff in late March or early April, says Mark Meinster with the United Electrical Workers. People who used to work at the plant will gradually be rehired in the coming months, though exact numbers haven’t been pinned down yet.

“At first it will be a small group just to get the doors open and start making windows,” Meinster said today.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Serious Materials purchased the plant from bankrupt Republic for $1.45 million, according to court documents. Serious specializes in making ecologically friendly construction materials and already owns plants in California and Colorado.

The Republic purchase made sense for Serious, Meinster says, because of the types of windows the Goose Island plant is set up to make.

“A lot of it depends on the market, but they make a real strong product, they make an energy-efficient window that’s going to benefit for the weatherization program in the stimulus,” Meinster says.

Workers laid off from Republic in December who are rehired by Serious Materials will resume work at their same pay and with similar benefits.

Republic abruptly shut down in early December, putting 300 unionized workers out of their jobs without severance. The workers staged a six-day sit-in and ultimately won a $1.75 million settlement that covered unused vacation time and provided some severance money for each worker.

Richard Gillman, the president of Republic, purchased a small window plant in Red Oak, Iowa at the same time he closed Republic. Gillman closed the Iowa plant on Monday and laid off all 100 workers there.

According to Meinster and Nate Lunn, the facilities manager of the Echo Windows plant in Red Oak, Gillman yesterday signed a deal with a Tennessee window maker to sell the most lucrative brands of windows that Echo used to make. That leaves the future of the Echo plant up in the air.

Meinster was unsure whether Serious Materials would try to take back the equipment that Gillman sent from Republic to the Iowa plant several months ago. A reporter viewed that equipment inside the Echo plant yesterday. The equipment was not fully set up and had never been used to produce windows in Red Oak.

Officials at Serious Windows could not be reached for comment today.