A historic Roman Catholic church in Galveston closed since Hurricane Ike damaged it in 2008 reopens this weekend.
A restored St. Mary Cathedral-Basilica will officially re-open on Easter Sunday with a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
The archdiocese says the church, built in 1847, was one of the few Galveston landmarks to survive the catastrophic 1900 hurricane that decimated the city and killed at least 6,000 people.
In a prepared statement, DiNardo says it was the first church built in Texas to be a cathedral. The church was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1968.
The $4 million renovation included replacing the roof, rebuilding the pews, reinforcing the two front spires and a new mural.
