Cathedral Ready To Show Off New Look

Downtown Tulsa's Holy Family Cathedral is nearing the end of a complete restoration and after months of construction, Father Matthew LaChance has shown the patience of Job.

"These things take time, but the cathedrals of Europe took hundreds of years to build each, so we're doing well," said Father LaChance.

LaChance is also concerned with how the parishioners will accept the vivid new paint job.

"When people would walk in and see red columns, it was somewhat jarring," said LaChance. "The new paint scheme was exciting to many, but so radically different, there were a number of people who were a little worried."

But the fifteen different colors of paint were chosen on purpose.

"The greatest asset of our building is probably our stained-glass windows, and we took a lot of the colors from those windows," explained Father LaChance.

Tom Childers and his crew from Reiss Painting were finishing up their work in the cathedral and were proud of their work.

‘It's one of the best jobs in Tulsa, I feel, it's just as good as the B.O.K. down there, and we're painting that too. So I'm kind of like right up there, so it makes feel good," said Childers.

Cindy Webster is painting in the endless detail work from high on a scaffold.

 "I got in and saw how huge it was and said this is way over my head, literally scaffolding high, but somehow I said I know how to do it if you want to do it," said Webster. "Every time I finish a section I feel like I've achieved something."

So how does Father Matthew answer the eternal question - when will it be done?

"When Michelangelo was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and that took him I believe eight years, and his answer kept being ‘It'll be done when it's done,'" chuckled Father Matthew.

By Chris Howell, NewsOn6.com Video Journalist

Related Story: 02/28/08 Improvements On The Way For Holy Family Cathedral