Lance E. Johnson
1988

This entry represents the installation of a 'new' organ created from recycled parts. Identified through online information from Alex Swanson [July 17, 2026]: "This instrument was built using the Fargo Theatre's original Opus 1255 Style E X Console after it had been retired from regular use in the main auditorium of the theatre. During the winter of 1987-88, Lance E. Johnson, organ builder and President/Owner of Johnson Organ Co., Inc., and President of the Red River Theatre Organ Society, procured 7 ranks of pipes to match the original engraved stop tabs on the console, and Lance installed the pipes and console in the lobby mezzanine at the Fargo Theatre. It should be noted that the actual original 7 Style E ranks never left the main auditorium and this organ's ranks were a completely separate instrument and were likely from various builders and sources. The organ was dedicated in April 1988 to Hildegarde Usselman Kraus, who had been a house organist of the Fargo Theatre from the 1920s-1940s, and beginning again in the 1970s when Red River Theatre Organ Society first restored the Wurlitzer there. This lobby organ was used until the theatre began a substantial renovation in the late-1990s. The organ was disconnected/dismantled ca. end of 1997 as the remodeling began in early 1998. The pipework was sold, and the original Style E console remains as a static display. Throughout its short 10-year life, the organ was used for house music, practice, and other special events."