Paoli, PA

This prominent Church is located along Philadelphia’s famed main line. The church, and organ have long been staples in the Philadelphia concert scene. Originally built by Austin Organs of Hartford, CT, the instrument has undergone many changes and modification to its original specification with pipes added and transplanted throughout its divisions.

The existing console drawknob list includes many intended additions that, perhaps fortunately, never came to be, including a vast array of proposed electronics stops. Apart from the actual additions and some movement of the physical location of certain pipes, the organ as a whole remains fairly intact.

We were invited to inspect the organ and to submit a comprehensive proposal outlining our thoughts on mechanical changes to the instrument, including a realignment of the organ's tonal structure, and our thoughts on a new Antiphonal that would be mounted on the rear wall of the sanctuary.

We found the organ in very good physical condition, and the pipes, although dirty were in excellent shape. The console had begun to fail, and contained rudimentary preparations for the electronic additions. We decided to propose a new drawstop tiered console to replace the existing Austin console. An Antiphonal organ will be added on the rear wall of the church which would fill a duel role, acting as a organ unto itself, but also serving to draw the main organ into the room.

The tonal and pipe additions will be voiced seamlessly with the organ as a whole, and choruses of pipes will be moved so that they speak from the same physical plane.

Our Goal with this organ is to beautify and balance the instrument's overall tonal structure, enabling it to once again speak as a single organ, many parts working together as a unified whole.


Philadelphia, PA

I had been to Christ memorial in the past. The Pastor who had undertaken the care of the organ would call when he had reached a point where his knowledge of repairing pipe organs had reached an end, and the organ needed to be fixed properly. Recently, one of my employees had become interested in the organ and the church restoration program and had joined the church in their efforts. Little did they know that those efforts would soon take on a new and tragic urgency.
It was August 2004. A lightening storm was tearing through the area. After it ended, I sat down to watch the news on the television when the story came in: “Church steeple collapses.” After twenty years in the Philadelphia area, I had become very familiar with many of the city’s churches and always dreaded the thoughts of something happening to them. Shortly after hearing the news, my home phone rang. It was the steeple from Christ memorial that fell. I knew that the steeple was on the opposite end and in the opposite corner from the organ, so I crossed my finger and hoped that the instrument was ok.

The next morning, I drove to the church to evaluate the situation and see what I could do. Oblivious to the dangers, I rushed into the church to see. I have seen many damaged churches in my career, but I had never seen anything like this. The sun shone through the gaping hole in the church roof, and for someone who has spent their whole life in churches, this was an odd sight indeed. The tower had collapsed through the roof, through the balcony, through the church floor and pews coming to rest finally in the church basement and on the sidewalk outside. Chestnut beams had been sheared in two and hung precariously from their joints. It was truly awesome. Dirt and dust covered everything. It was like the end of the world.

Turning to the right, I could see that the organ was intact, covered in a layer of rock dust, but intact nonetheless. I looked inside to see if the plaster ceiling inside the organ chamber had broken free and damaged the organ. Thankfully it hadn’t. The instrument had been spared,... for now at least.

The organ had stood in place for one hundred and fourteen years, becoming drier and drier as each year passed. One good rainstorm and it would be ruined, the wood would swell with moisture, all of the glue joints would separate and the instrument would be destroyed. The race became clear: Remove the organ before the next summer rainstorm hit.

The first crisis meeting was held nearby my shop at Grace Reformed Episcopal Church in Collingdale, where we discussed everything of concern including the organ...

[To be continued...]



Philadelphia, PA

The organ at Old Zion is one of my favorite organs, both to look at and to listen to. Admittedly, until recently one had to listen with a forgiving and understanding ear as the pipework was in such wretched condition as to render the instrument untunable. What was once a grand church organ had been reduced to a wheezing and noisy machine. This condition was due to the damage the organ had endured through years of unqualified tunings misguided additions and poor quality workmanship. The organ, as it until recently stood was but a shadow of its former self. I first saw the organ twenty years ago when I was sent to make some repairs, I was immediately taken with it. Despite the damage and the indignity it had suffered, it still performed, and one could hear under the noise and windleaks that this was indeed a gem.

Like most inner city churches, the congregation of Old Zion is small, with a big building to maintain. This being said, the dedication and passion for their mission is hands on, reaching far beyond the collection plate, with almost every member of the church pitching in with painting, cleaning and just about everything else. Surrounded by this spirit, it was easy to undertake what was assured to be a truly daunting task, the restoration of the organ. Given the limited budget, it was clear from the offset that this restoration was going to be completed over a long period of curatorship, and the end would be a long way off. Much of my dilemma with the project was simply where to begin. The organ was in such poor condition that there was no aspect that did not need to be addressed.

I settled on a practical beginning to the project, i.e. returning the organ to a playable condition.

The work began in Easter of 2005, and involved removing all of the pipes to our shop for significant repair. Additional work including rebuilding a Principal unit chest that had been added to the organ in the 20’s, restoring the Pedal slider chest, and repairing the main chest tables. Cracks had appeard in the main chests, and some minor runnings were present. Likewise, the slides had become tight, and the coverboard were somewhat warped. There were no funds available to take the chests to our shop to restore them. Instead the repairs and restoration were performed in place. Although hardly ideal, it was nonetheless effective and worthwhile.

As the photos show, repairing the pipe work was an enormous feat. Tuning slides were fitted to most pipes as the pipes were no longer capable of supporting cone tuning. We returned the organ to its original pitch of A:455 and will address a more permanent pitch once the restoration is complete. I look forward to the completion of this particular project as a truly worthwhile effort.


Conshohoken, PA

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