Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa Prepares for $3M Storm Damage Repairs

The Father's Day storm in Tulsa is still having an impact more than two years later, with a downtown church preparing to get a new roof.

Getting Ready for Repairs After 2023 Father’s Day Storm

Multimillion dollar repairs are scheduled to be done at a Holy Family Cathedral this summer and fall. Right now, workers are setting up scaffolding to ensure their safety, before the repair work begins. 

The church said the scaffolding is about halfway done. It will eventually reach nearly 200 feet in order to cover the tallest steeple.

Strong winds two years ago sent a cross to the ground and shingles have been falling loose ever since.

"We've come to a point where we need a new roof. And some of that is just age, some of that is some pretty significant wind damage,” Holy Family Cathedral Father Brian O’Brien said.

Mass Continues as Usual

The church said the work should not affect mass; workers are flexible especially during weddings and funerals, and won’t work on Sundays.

Parishioners are navigating getting to mass through the right door each day, and getting there on time, as they adjust to worshiping in a construction zone.

"It's an older building and you would expect that to be necessary from time to time. I think it'll look beautiful when it gets done,” Charles Harrison said. He said he’s been going to the church on and off for about 15 years.

"It's a hard job. I do not envy them, climbing to the top of the roof on a hot summer day in Tulsa, Oklahoma,” Caleb Harlan, who works for the church, said Friday.

O’Brien said once the scaffolding is done, the actual repair work should not take very long.

"They told us that there will be, at any given time, 30 workers on each spire, so there will be, in a course of a day, there will be up to 100 people here working. And so that process actually will go pretty fast,” he said.

Other Projects on Cathedral Roof

Father O'Brien said while workers are up there, there are a few other projects on the to do list, including making improvements to the building’s outdoor lighting.

"So if you come by here at night, the lighting, I always say it's kind of sad,” O’Brien said. “It needs -- you look around at some of the other churches and there's such an opportunity there to really let the cathedral shine."

Workers will also set the tower clocks to the correct time and improve the bell system.

"We have a bell that's original to the cathedral, and we're gonna put in an electronic system that will enable us to play bells when we want, for big events, weddings, funerals, things like that,” O’Brien said.

Roof Work Done in the Past

Father O'Brien said people remember roof work being done in 2009, that he said did not go as planned.

"Some people have said, 'Didn't we just do that?' And they mean 15 years ago,” he said. “And we hope that this is a, you know, 40, 50, 60, 70 year roof."

The Cost of Repairs

Holy Family said the price tag for this work is about $3 million. Insurance is paying about $1.2 million, according to Holy Family. The church credits local foundations, and generous parishioners who believe in the growth of the church, to help pay for the rest. O’Brien also said the church received a bridge loan from the Diocese of Tulsa. He said that loan would be repaid with donations.

The work is expected to take six months, with a goal to have everything ready just in time for Christmas.