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Grants Pass trio hosts and designs Web site for Vatican Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Mike McGivney of Gold Hill has designed a Web site for the Vatican as part of its effort to refurbish artwork owned by the museums of the Holy See. The site is hosted by Echo Web, which is run by Jacques and Kate LeComte of Grants Pass. Museum patrons who donate money support restoration of Holy See's vast art collection By GREG STILES Mail Tribune Vatican City and its great art treasures are halfway around the world from Grants Pass and Gold Hill. Yet a trio of Southern Oregonians have connected the Rogue communities to Rome as only can be done via the World Wide Web. Jacques and Kate LeComte of Grants Pass and Mike McGivney of Gold Hill have combined their talents to host and design a Vatican Web site (www.vatican-patrons.org) that seeks support for restoration of the Holy See's vast art collection. Patrons who donate a minimum of $500 to Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums receive a variety of privileges, but more than anything they provide care for some of the world's great art work. "The Internet has a lot of power in our economy these days," says Kate LeComte, who has operated Echo Web since 1994. "Hosting a site of this importance is a chance for us to exhibit and model that kind of activity, and it brings global dollars into Southern Oregon." The relationship was forged when one of McGivney's clients told him about the patrons society's plans for a Web site and suggested he should contact the Vatican. "I made up a few dummy pages for the site, and they liked the way it was presented and asked for a couple more pages," says McGivney, who began a yearlong project in October of 2000. McGivney requested photos that captured restoration in progress as well as paintings and sculptures in need of refurbishing. Father Allen Duston, the international coordinator for the patrons program, provided photos and has approved the various phases of the project. "What we're trying to do is to present the calling card for the Vatican Museums," McGivney said. "The art they're restoring is the entire showcase; that's what this is all about. We're trying to highlight the restoration in progress and the future needs for the restoration of the art treasures. "It's not an entertainment site; it's not MTV." McGivney had done projects for clients in Alabama and New York, but this was his first international foray. When it came time for a Web host, McGivney turned to Echo Web, with which he had collaborated on more than 15 previous efforts. "I was free to recommend a provider," he says. "Obviously, they (the Vatican) are in Italy somewhere. If I had a problem or there was something wrong, it would be a lot easier for me to jump in my car and go to Grants Pass instead of hopping a plane to Italy. Dealing with the LeComtes is nice and easy." While McGivney handles the artistic end, Echo Web's task is technological. Kate LeComte set up the system for donors - who can actually give less than $500 but don't receive the perks - to contribute by credit card. The Vatican's Los Angeles office collects information about the donors, while a Bank of America office in Texas receives the funds and passes them to the appropriate account. "The Vatican e-mails us in English with a few Italian and French words thrown in, because they knew we speak French," she says. "We just finished a round of training, helping them with their online banking." Echo Web charges the Vatican $19.95 a month, the same as it does its other 200 domain customers, plus an hourly rate for its services. "If someone wants a Volkswagen or Rolls Royce (Web site), they can get it," LeComte says. "They're closer to a Cadillac version." LeComte says the site averaged 168 hits per day, totaling 1,180 last week, with 80 percent from North America with most of the rest coming from Europe. Although the Vatican might be its highest-profile contract, Echo already has a long-standing European client - a subsidiary of Constructions Mecaniques de Normadie, a French company best known for building Hovercraft - that makes plastic containers. "They chose us, in part," she says, "because we're bilingual." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.