Database Manager on March 17th, 2016:
This entry describes an original installation of a new pipe organ. Identified by Scot Huntington, based on personal knowledge of the organ.<br><br>The organ is installed in the rear gallery of the early 20th-century church, on either side of a large window. There are identical consoles in the rear gallery (fixed) and at the front of the church (moveable). When the organ was delivered, it was discovered the gallery railing would not support the weight of the Ruckpositive, and it was installed to the right of the console on the floor of the gallery proper.<br><br> The organ and casework were to be separate contracts: the construction of the organ proper was sub-contracted to Organ Supply Co. of Erie, Pennsylvania, and the casework was to be built by Morel. The organ was paid for by a bequest from a parishioner, but after the organ works were installed, the balance of the organ funding was embezzled by a church administrator so the organ was installed completely unadorned and exposed.<br><br>The Positive and Pedal upperwork were intended to be functionally exposed, but the works of the Great and Swell were not intended to be visible and were to be hidden behind a facade of woodwork and dummy facade pipes. With no funding to provide a case or even to finish the construction of the Swell box, the organ languished in this condition for over 10 years. Roughly a decade later, members of the church crafted a decorative veneered plywood skirt that at least covered the organ's internal mechanics. <br><br>The Pedal upperwork is installed at floor level in front of the rear window. The Swell "box" only consisted of a roof and two sets of shutters- one set facing toward the choir (vertical) and the other facing the nave (horizontal). The components of Swell enclosure were two thin, and many open areas were left unsealed, therefore it was dynamically ineffectual. The original accordion-pneumatic Swell engine was never satisfactory, and was replaced with a solid-state motor ca. 2009.<br><br>In 2015, as part of the church's year-long 100th anniversary renewal, a multi-phase rebuilding of the instrument was begun. Under the first and most comprehensive phase, the organ was tonally rebuilt, being respecified and revoiced by S.L. Huntington & Co. of Stonington, Connecticut.