(Oklahoma City) A new sculptured granite entryway will soon welcome visitors to the 101 Park Ave. building in downtown Oklahoma City and while the artist creating the work is a Texan, he’s no stranger to Oklahoma .

Internationally known granite sculptor Jesús Moroles was hired by Wiggin Properties, which owns the building, to transform the lobby and an unused elevator shaft into what the artist calls a meditation space.

He said he wants the lobby to be a respite for workers and visitors to the building in the midst of their busy days.

“That’s what my work is about, creating sacred spaces around the world,” he said. “People just never stop to smell the roses or take a look at what’s at their feet or just sit and look at the views. You just need a place to do that.”

In the course of his career, which has taken him all over the world, Moroles made the acquaintance of local artist Laura Warriner in the mid-1980s, which began his long relationship with Oklahoma .

When Warriner opened Untitled ArtSpace in downtown Oklahoma City in 1997, Moroles, who lives in Rockport , Texas , was the first featured artist. Since then, among other work in the state, he has done a piece that sits outside the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art on the Norman campus of the University of Oklahoma . In 2000 Moroles was commissioned to design the lobby for the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.

Moroles said as the work continues to evolve from an initial plan, the cost for the 101 lobby will ultimately run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He said normally a fundraising effort is held to pay for his projects. This one, however, is being funded by the building’s owners.

Moroles said it is not uncommon for him to pitch an initial idea to a client with a modest price only to have them insist he complete the project on a grander scale with a much higher price tag than originally proposed.

Debbie Whitacre, property manager for the 101 building, said the owners decided several years ago that it was time to remodel the interior.

“I think the goal was to make the building something special,” she said. “We needed to remodel and Chuck (Wiggin) didn’t want to do your average ho-hum.”

Whitacre said Wiggin contacted Warriner, who took one look at the lobby and said he had to meet Moroles.

Talks began in 2003 when Moroles visited the building and began the initial planning as well as winning over the building’s interested parties for the drastic remodeling.

“They had to convince a lot of people because this (project) is very unusual,” Moroles said.

The 14-story building was built in 1936 as the Skirvin Tower . In the 1980s plans were in place to add up to another 14 floors, though funding fell through after the oil bust. A central elevator shaft had already been installed to support the new floors.

Moroles said the elevator space allowed him to think big and build his granite structure to span two floors.

Moroles said the work in the 101 building began several months ago and he hopes to have it completed by Feb. 15.

When the project is finished it will embody about 160,000 pounds of brown granite from Texas and white granite from California . Moroles said the project is actually small in comparison to others he has completed and some he is working on.

Among other projects, Moroles has several commissions for projects around Oklahoma that will be competed in the coming years including a plaza for Oklahoma State University ’s downtown Tulsa campus, which is set for completion this summer.