PAST PROJECTS

• Roosevelt High School
• New Orleans Blessed Seelos Catholic Church
• Mercer Island Presbyterian Church
• Issaquah Covenant Presbyterian Church
  • Expansion
  • Expansion 2
• Wicks Rebuild
• St. Luke Lutheran
• St. Luke Completed
• Covenant Presbyterian
• Lamb of God Lutheran

Photo 1. Jay does wiring on one of the Bourdon chests.

 

Photo 2. Fred and Halie wash many years of dirt off the 4' Octave pipes while Pres and Ben do another project in the background.

 

Photo 3. Chuck and Bart were "buried" in console work for hours.

 

Photo 4. Roger and Pres prepare an electromagnetic windchest to be releathered.

 

Photo 5. Pres works on a rackboard that had to be built from scratch in order to accommodate the 8' Salicional octave.

 

Photo 6. Chuck laid out the entire electronic switchstack.

 

Photo 7. Halie and Bev cleanup Artisan driver boards which had been used elsewhere and then given to the Foundation.

 

Photo 8. Carl stands next to the Bourdon after completing the voicing of thse pipes from the Crown Hill Church.

 

Photo 9. Jay (left) and Fred spent many days in the upstairs console shop planning out and wiring all aspects of the console.

 

Photo 10. Bart (left) and Fred spend many days in the upstairs console shop planning out and wiring all aspects of the console.

Photo 11. The console in place in the church.

Photo 12. View of the pipe chamber with the electronic switchstack on the left, the Harp and much of the pedal division.

Photo 13. View of the pipe chamber with the Great division on the right including Melodia, 4' Octave, 8' Open Diapason, and chimes.

Photo 14. View from the platform shows the Swell box on the left, 8' Open Diapason in the middle, and door to the chamber on the right.

Photo 15. Russ Evans inspects the placement of the Harp which he rebuilt.

Photo 16. Jim, Pres, Halie and Richard do some of the final work on the Swell box and the surrounding areas.

Photo 17. Jim and Richard put the decorative screen in place.

 

Northlake Lutheran Church Organ Completed

08/17/19

On July 22, 2019, the final work was completed on the organ for Northlake Lutheran Church in Kenmore, and it was declared done.  This is a brief report on this organ, and the work done on it with photographs to provide additional information.

Work with this church dated back to February of 2013 when the first visit to the church occurred.  The interest of Northlake Lutheran in a pipe organ was discussed and it was discovered that the church was being offered the pipe organ in Crown Hill Lutheran Church in Seattle which was closing.  In May 2013, as much as was useful was removed from that 9 rank Balcom and Vaughn (1958) organ and it was put into storage. A series of discussions then ensued about an optimal size and placement of the organ, alterations to the building, and affordability.  Ultimately, a plan was agreed upon by which no significant alterations in the building were made and the organ was to be placed in the no longer used choir loft.  A Letter of Agreement dated November 28, 2017 was signed by both the church and the Foundation.

Work began on the instrument at the Pipe Organ Foundation early in 2018, but this was work on a limited scale as the Foundation was heavily at work on another project.  The Foundation was able to turn its attention fully to this instrument in early 2019 and it was completed and installed in July 2019.

When completed, the organ consisted of 8 ranks of pipes and two percussions.  The Great division consisted of four ranks:  1) 8’ Open Diapason (61 pipes, Stinkens, 1978); 2) 8’ Melodia (73 pipes, Estey, plays at 8’ and 4’) 3) 4’ Octave (73 pipes, Moller, plays at 4’ and 2’); and 4) 8’ Oboehorn (73 pipes, plays at 8’ and 4’).  The Swell division consisted of three ranks placed in an enclosed cabinet:  1) 8’ Stopped Diapason (85 pipes, Wicks, 1937, plays at 8’, 4’, and 2’); 2) 8’ Salicional (73 pipes, Aeolian, 1922, plays at 8’ and 4’); and, 3) 8’ Voix Celeste (49 pipes, Aeolian, 1922).  The Pedal division had an independent 16’ Bourdon rank (56 pipes, plays at 16’, 8’, and 4’).  

The percussions included a set of Chimes (Maas, 21 note) and a Deagan Harp-Celeste (No. 1637, 37 notes) which was rebuilt by Russell Evans in memory of long term church members Roland and Florence Lindstrom and Philip and Nancy Carothers.

In rebuilding and adapting the instrument to its current location, parts were used from the Crown Hill organ wherever possible.  As was evident, that organ had pipes in it from various builders, but it did have in it the Harp which was rebuilt and placed in the present instrument.  However, for various reasons, the console used in the final installation was Wicks (1937).  The Meidinger blower used had previously served the Keystone Congregational Church in Seattle.

An Artisan electronic driving system for the organ was used, with a significant number of parts contributed to the Foundation by Thomas Blackwell and the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.  Gratitude is expressed to Mark Andersen and Red Carlson of Artisan for their assistance in the completion of this project.

Except for the final tonal finishing which was done by Marceau Pipe Organs of Seattle, all the work on the instrument was done by closely guided volunteers.  A total of 18 volunteers from the Foundation contributed approximately 2,600 hours of time to make this organ a reality.  The attached pictures show many of the volunteers at work as the project progressed.  The pictures also show the final product.