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Effort underway to save pipe organ.....

Started by KB7DQH, April 25, 2011, 07:14:04 AM

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KB7DQH

In a derelict building under threat of demolition...

Another Kilgen...
QuoteA local musicologist wants to save an old pipe organ in one of the buildings to be demolished on the campus of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design.

"It's not a hidden gem that's been suddenly found," said Craig Smith, treasurer and publicist for the Albuquerque chapter of the American Guild of Organists. "It's not really worth money, but the history is what's interesting."

The Kilgen pipe organ, made by the St. Louis firm that also created the organ in New York City's St. Patrick's Cathedral, was installed in the mid-1950s in the old Bruns Army Hospital theater.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Effort-under-way-to-save-organ

QuoteRenamed St. Joseph Chapel, or sometimes just "the old auditorium," it was one of the buildings turned over to St. Michael's College when it moved to the site in 1947.

Brother Donald Mouton, who worked at the Christian Brothers school that became the College of Santa Fe in 1968, recalled helping to reassemble and install the organ in 1954 or 1955 after it was purchased from the Jesuits in El Paso.

"I was a college student studying to be a brother. And they needed a skinny kid that could get in there, put the pipes up there and fit in between the spaces. ... We got it assembled, and it played beautifully for years and years," he said.

QuoteMouton said he's not sure when the organ was last played, but two years ago, when the Christian Brothers closed down their group residence and sold the campus to the city of Santa Fe, the organ was no longer working and no one was interested in taking it. The Kilgen Organ Co. went out of business in 1960.

"Although it's a great instrument, it's impossible to find replacement parts," Mouton said. "They don't exist anymore."

The old organ was rediscovered Tuesday when Pam Nicosin of the Property Control Division of the state General Services Department gave New Mexico History Museum officials a tour. The organ has been damaged by vandals in the recent past.

The state is moving toward razing several old buildings on the 15 acres of the campus it bought from the city last year to expand its Cerrillos Road office complex to the south. The city has leased most of the campus to Laureate Education, which changed the name of the school to Santa Fe University of Art and Design.

Daniel Kosharek, photo archivist for the Palace of the Governors, and Tom Leech of the Palace Press, who took the tour, said one of the old barracks also contains a vehicle-size lithographic press that once belonged to the late artist Frank Howell. They said it is probably not more than 40 years old — not old enough to be historic.

But when Kosharek called Smith, a former music critic and arts writer for Pasatiempo, to tell him about the organ, Smith began looking for someone interested in refurbishing it or at least storing it until it can be repaired and used. Anyone interested can call Smith at 603-1750.

"It's a small instrument," he said. "If it couldn't be completely restored, it could be turned into a demonstration instrument that could be taken around to schools. ... I'd hate to see it just be taken down by a bulldozer."

General Services Department officials did not respond to messages last week asking about demolition plans, the organ or the press.

Eric

KB7DQH




The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."

KB7DQH

News of the possible loss of this instrument "going viral"... The Story has hit the Associated Press wire service and is showing up in more and more New Mexico newspapers...

http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/143d2030d54b46688e37960c90b6df0d/NM--Pipe-Organ/

QuoteSANTA FE, N.M.—A musicologist is working to save an old pipe organ in one of the buildings to be demolished on the campus of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design.

Craig Smith says the Kilgen pipe organ at the old Bruns Army Hospital theater was installed in the 1950s. The building was one of those turned over to St. Michael's College when it moved to the site in 1947.

Smith is treasurer and publicist for the Albuquerque chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

The state plans to demolish several old buildings on the 15 acres of the campus it bought from the city last year.

Smith tells the Santa Fe New Mexican the organ needs repair but should be saved and not become the victim of a bulldozer.

http://www.lcsun-news.com/new_mexico-news/ci_17920418

Eric
KB7DQH

The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."

KB7DQH

http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/9e03a24f695f4772976aa3c9c73c3541/NM--Pipe-Organ/

QuoteSANTA FE, N.M. — An old pipe organ in need of a home could be taken over by the Santa Fe University of Art and Design.

The pipe organ, believed to be about a century old, has been housed in an old College of Santa Fe building that will be torn down so new state offices can be built.

The organ, recently damaged by vandals, has been in Santa Fe for more than 50 years and has a history of changing hands.

The College of Santa Fe was founded in 1859 as St. Michaels College by the Christian Brothers.

They bought the pipe organ, used, from the Jesuits in El Paso, Texas, in the mid-1950s, and installed it in a former theater for the Bruns Army Hospital, which had turned over its property to the school after World War II.

QuoteAfter New Mexico History Museum officials toured the old building and saw the organ, they called on Craig Smith, treasurer and publicist for the Albuquerque chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He began looking for someone who wanted to restore it.

That search led to Steve Paxton, head of the Santa Fe university's contemporary music program. Paxton said Thursday that Laureate officials "have given me the go-ahead, as long as we can do everything with volunteer labor and at no cost."

"I hope to let our acoustics class work on the instrument some next year and then eventually get it refurbished and into working order," he said.

He has another desire.

"Brother Don Mouton (who helped install the organ as a college student) composed a Mass many years ago, and I hope that about three years from now, we'll perform that Mass, accompanied by the pipe organ," Paxton said.

So... An organ saved from the wrecking ball...... 8) ;)

Eric
KB7DQH
The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."