A Casavant outlives the building it was installed in...

[KB7DQH]

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4179876-wanted-a-good-home-for-a-very-big-church-organ/

The organ is available "free to a good home" and the developer is willing to help with the relocation...

More about the organ...http://members.shaw.ca/radenton/For%20Sale.htm

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR THE PIPE ORGAN in James Street Baptist Church, Hamilton, Ontario



            For more information contact.



Maggie Steele   Realtor

905-308-1274



                                   OR



            R. A. Denton & Son, Organ Builders

            140 Mount Albion Road

            Hamilton, Ontario. L8K 5S8               

            Phone 905-561-1331

            Email radenton@shaw.ca

CONSOLE DESCRIPTION:

            The 3-manual Casavant drawknob console has an oak shell complete with roll top and bench.  In 1988 the oak shell was refinished and is in good condition, (mid brown colour).  The interior of the console is all original 1939 Casavant hardware including the coupler assemblies (key contact system for the manual keyboards), the electro-pneumatic pedal stop switches and pedal couplers, and the capture style combination action (adjustable, single memory pistons).  Some minor re-leathering of the pneumatics for the Full Organ piston and reversible pistons is required at this time.  All other console components are operating.  The manual keyboards are ivory and ebony, and the pedal board has maple keys.  This console requires wind at approximately 6" W.P. to operate.  All of the original Casavant stop draw knobs and tilting tablets respond promptly to the pistons.  The hardware in the console is showing some signs of wear; however it continues to operate well even after 73+ years of use.

            The console is 68" wide, 52" tall and 60" from the back of the console to the back of the pedal board, (add a few more inches for the organ bench).    The moveable platform (console dolly) is approximately 71" wide, 67" deep, and 6" tall.

            Although this pipe organ has not been the primary instrument used for worship at this church for the past 15 years, the organ has been played every few weeks.  The organ service log books covering the past 25 years are available.

THE CHEST ACTIONS:

            The organ contains Casavant standard Pitman electro-pneumatic action.  The action is compact and very reliable.  For most of the pipechests, the action is accessed from the bottom of the chests by simply unscrewing bottom panels.  All chest actions are still operating on the original leathers and felts circa 1939.  To date, only three valves in the pipechest for the Pedal Open Diapason 16' (notes #1-#12) have failed.  The valves in the main pipechests for the Swell, Great and Choir have not given any problems, however all the leathers on these valves are original and are now 73 years old.

GENERAL LAYOUT OF THE ORGAN CHAMBER COMPONENTS:

             The organ chamber is located at the front of the church on a second floor approximately 10' above the main church floor.  There is a large new open staircase on the front right-hand side of the church which should facilitate the removal of most organ components.  Once the organ façade is removed, the largest components could be lowered directly down to the main floor.

             The organ façade was part of the original S. R. Warren pipe organ built in 1891.  Originally stained a very dark brown, the wood of the façade (from now extinct species of Chestnut trees) was sandblasted during the 1988 church renovations and is now a light golden colour with a deep textured surface.  The façade pipes are made of zinc and have been painted gold.  Prior to 1939 some of these pipes did play, but they no longer function.  This façade is available with the organ.

            In its current layout, the four divisions (Swell, Great, Choir and Pedal) require an organ chamber with minimum dimensions 24.6' wide x 10' deep x 26.4' tall. Currently the organ chamber has a dropped floor in the middle of the chamber. Some minor changes to the length of the chest legs may be required in another installation. The Swell and Choir chambers could be lowered by several feet in a new location with minimal changes to the layout.

            The Swell division is on the left side of the chamber.  The Swell box enclosure is 10' 3"wide x 10'deep x 13'tall and is approximately 7' above the chamber loft floor. It is supported by five large posts (see diagram).  The expression louvers are located on the front side of the Swell box.  The space below the Swell box contains the main Swell bellows, Tremulant and various air conveyances.

            On the right side of the chamber is the Choir division.  The Choir box enclosure is 5.5' wide x 10' deep x 13' tall and is also approximately 7' above the chamber loft floor and it also is supported by five large posts. The Choir expression louvers are located on the front side of the Choir box as well as on the right side facing the Great division.  The area below the Choir box contains the Choir bellows, Tremulant, a couple of boxes containing switching for the 32' electronic reed base and various air conveyances.  The pneumatic action Chimes (20 notes A to E) are hung on the outside of the Choir expression box. These chimes are not Casavant but were an addition to the organ in 1991.

            The Great and Pedal divisions fill in the space between the Swell and Choir division.  Two layers of cross supports extending from the Swell posts to the Choir posts and form the supports for Great and Pedal wind chests.  The lower cross supports hold the pipechests for the Trombone 16' (32 pipes on a separate pipe chest), the Violone 8' (32 pipes on a separate pipechest), the Bourdon 16'/8' (44 pipes on a separate chest), and the Open Diapason 16' (notes #13 to #44 on a separate chest). These pedal chests are 10' long.

            Notes #1 to #12 of the Pedal Open Diapason 16' stop are located on a second separate pipe chests on the centre top level behind the Great division and above the walk way.  The Great division has two pipe chests which share a single primary action.  This action is located under the central Great walk board.  The Great pipechests are approximately 3' higher than the pipechests of the Swell and Choir divisions.

BLOWER:

           The organ blower is located in a room to the left of the organ chamber. It is a modern 3hp, 3-phase Zephyr Electric Organ Blower installed in 1992 and it is in very good working order.

SUMMARY:

            In general, the condition of the organ is very good considering its age.  If moved and installed carefully the organ should give good service for many decades to come.  Most likely re-leathering of pipechests and bellows will be needed in the future; this is normal procedure.  The organ's design is of the traditional romantic style of the 1930's period and was of the highest quality when it was constructed.  We would recommend this instrument to any purchaser who has the space and funds to install it.





STOPLIST SPECIFICATION



SWELL



16' Bourdon

8' Open Diapason

8' Stopped Diapason

8' Viola da Gamba

8' Voix Celeste

8' Aeoline

4' Flauto Traverse

2' Flageolet

III Mixture



8' Cornopean

8' Oboe

8' Vox Humana



Tremulant



Swell Sub

Swell Unison Off *

Swell Super





GREAT



8' Diapason I

8' Diapason II

8' Doppel Flute

8' Dolce

4' Principal

4' Wald Flute

2' Fifteenth



8' Harmonic Trumpet



Great Super

Great Unison Off *

Great Unison Off *

Swell Sub to Great*

Swell to Great*

Swell Super to Great*

Choir Sub to Great*

Choir to Great*

Choir Super to Great*



CHOIR



               8' Open Diapason                   

8' Melodia

8' Dulciana

4' Harmonic Flute

2' Piccolo



8' Clarinet



Tremulant

Chimes



Choir Sub

Choir Unison Off *

Choir Super

Swell Sub to Choir*

Swell to Choir*

Swell Super to Choir*



PEDAL



l6' Open Diapason

l6' Bourdon

l6' Lieblich Bourdon (SW)

8' Bass Flute (Ext. O.D.)

8' Stopped Flute (Ext. Bour.)

8' Cello



32' Contra Trombone

l6' Trombone



Great to Pedal*

Great Super to Pedal*

Swell to Pedal*

Swell Super to Pedal*

Choir to Pedal*

Choir Super to Pedal*



* Intra-manual couplers and Unison Offs are on tilting tablets.



ELECTRO-PNEUMATIC COMBINATION ACTION:



4 Swell thumb pistons

3 Great thumb pistons

3 Choir thumb pistons

3 Pedal thumb pistons

4 Generals (toe studs)



6 Reversibles:

Swell to Pedal (thumb)

Great to Pedal (thumb, toe stud)

Swell to Great (thumb)

Choir to Great (thumb)

Choir to Pedal (thumb)

Swell to Choir (thumb)

1 Full Organ (toe stud)

1 Adjust

1 Release

2 Expression Pedals (Swell, Choir)

1 Crescendo Pedal

4 Meters: Wind, Full Organ, Voltage, Crescendo.

Eric
KB7DQH

[KB7DQH]

Looks like an "11th-hour reprieve"...   :)  8)

James Street Baptist organ removal plan in works

John Rennison,The Hamilton Spectator
James Street Baptist Church organ.
By Mark McNeil

The owner of James Street Baptist Church is working out details with a local company to save the giant pipe organ inside the crumbling building that is slated for demolition.

Louie Santaguida, of Stanton Renaissance, a Toronto-based development company, said in October the company was willing to give away the instrument to anyone who would remove and give the huge instrument a good home.

But taking apart the massive organ with its vast array of pipes and other parts is a formidable challenge, as is transporting, repairing and retrofitting it in another location.

Numerous churches and pipe organ repair firms from around the world have expressed interest, but stopped short of signing onto the task, said Maggie Steele, a sales representative with Heritage Realty Inc.

That was until the weekend when Northern Organ Co. of Hamilton signed a letter of intent to do the work.

"We're willing to invest the time, the storage and the shipping and find a good home for that organ," said John Kotlan, co-owner of company, which does service, maintenance and installation of pipe organs in the city.

He said the organ is in reasonably good shape. If it was new it would be worth nearly $1 million, he said. There are ads for used ones on the Internet for $30,000 to $150,000, he said, but they are hard to sell, because of the work involved in taking them down and retrofitting them somewhere else.

His company is in discussion with a church in the Niagara region that is interested in purchasing the organ once it is removed and repaired, he said. If that deal falls through, Kotlan said, he will put the organ in storage and find someone else to sell it to. Kotlan would not identify the church in Niagara region.

Pending final approval of the deal with Stanton, Kotlan's company plans to dismantle the organ from Jan. 2 to Jan. 17, just in time for the planned demolition of the building.

"This is a massive undertaking. We're looking at approximately 12 working days. ... The one big thing this has going for it, is that it is a Casavant organ. And Casavant is the best there is as far as we are concerned."

In late October, the city's heritage permit review subcommittee approved a demolition permit application of the church, which had numerous conditions including retaining the façade on James Street South.

Santaguida told the committee that engineers had told him the building was unsafe and in danger of collapse, possibly damaging nearby buildings or injuring passersby. The congregation had moved out of the 135-year-old building and sold it to Santaguida due to safety concerns.

Eric
KB7DQH

[KB7DQH]

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4305876-pipe-by-pipe-james-street-church-organ-being-disassembled/

Pipe by pipe, James Street church organ being disassembled

By Mark McNeil

They couldn't have picked a worse time to be working in an abandoned building with no heat.

But John Kotlan and Michael Sergi are making good headway in their shivery mission to save the magnificent pipe organ inside the cavernous and crumbling James Street Baptist Church.

The building is slated for demolition and the developer, after weeks of searching, struck a deal with Kotlan and Sergi's company, Northern Organs, to remove the enormous instrument that has been part of the church since 1939.

The pair completed their fifth day of work Wednesday — most of it in sub-zero temperatures — and figure they need about seven more days to finish the job.

The giant Casavant organ, which would cost nearly $1 million to buy and install new, has more than 2,000 pipes ranging in length from 1.5 centimetres to six metres. The pair must remove several large bellows that weigh hundreds of kilograms each, an electric blower that sends air through the system, and the console.

The plan is to put the organ pieces into storage until a permanent home can be found. They have been in discussions with a church in the Niagara region and hope to retrofit and install the instrument there. Failing that, they have a few other leads.

Developer Louie Santaguida, of Toronto-based Stanton Renaissance, gave the organ to Kotlan and Sergi with the understanding they will pass it on to a good home in a church somewhere — charging only for their labour to take apart, repair and reassemble the instrument.

"It doesn't need much repair. All it really needs is to conform to the new church," said Kotlan, adding that he has done about 30 similar jobs in his career. "This organ is custom-built for this building and it will never go in another building exactly the way it stands here. It will have to be all reworked. But this is done all the time."

Their goal is to be finished by Jan. 17, which will set the stage for demolishing the main part of the building sometime in February. Engineering reports say the church is unsafe and could collapse.

Santaguida plans to leave the front façade intact so the Gothic Revival church built between 1878 and 1882 will look the same from the street. On Wednesday, he met with designers in Hamilton to discuss plans for the multi-residential and commercial building. He says he will make detailed final plans public over the coming months.

mmcneil@thespec.com

905-526-4687 | @Markatthespec

Eric
KB7DQH