Jamaica High School, Queens
167-01 Gothic Drive
New York City: Queens (Jamaica),
NY
11417 US
Organ ID: 30452
In the Great Depression year of 1931, the Estey Organ Company received a welcome and very large contract for seven identical organs to be installed in New York City high schools. The $168,000 contract made the average cost of each organ $24,000. Each organ was equipped with a three-manual console that included ivory keys and an automatic roll-player.
These organs were installed in Jamaica High School (Op. 2932), Far Rockaway High School (Op. 2933), and Richmond Hill High School (Op. 2938) in Queens; Theodore Roosevelt High School (Op. 2934), James Monroe High School (Op. 2935), and DeWitt Clinton High School (Op. 2936) in The Bronx; and the New York Training School for Teachers (Op. 2937), later the High School of Musical Art, in Manhattan.
The Estey organ in Jamaica High School was installed in chambers on both sides of the stage. Gold display pipes mask the openings of the chambers into the auditorium. Unfortunately, this organ is no longer playable, although pipes are still present in the Great/Choir chamber.
Identified by James R. Stettner through information from the Estey Opus List, published in The Boston Organ Club newsletter, 1973-1979.