Our 'Mighty Wurlitzer' Theatre Pipe Organ started life in November of 1914 in the Liberty Theatre in Seattle, WA. It is Opus #42 and a proto-type of the large, deluxe Paramount and Crawford special models (designed by Jesse Crawford - the "Poet of the Pipe Organ") that were to come along in the big, new cinema palaces.
 
The American Theatre Organ Society has credited our organ with being the one that started the theatre organ movement that swept the country until the advent of talking picture shows. The organ was the sound creator for silent movies and the era came to a sudden halt in the late 20's and early 30's. Several famous men played this instrument such as Oliver Wallace who became the first music director for Walt Disney and Albert Hay Malotte who composed the Lord's Prayer.
 
Jensen and Von Herberg paid $27,000 for the organ in 1914 exclusive of transportation and installation. It was rescued in 1959 by the organ professor and class from Pacific Lutheran University just prior to the demolition of the Liberty Theatre. Spokane First Church of the Nazarene bought it from PLU in 1973 and it was installed in our new church in 1974. The first service was February 10, 1974.
 
The organ had never been refurbished until we started a several phase renovation in June of 2006. Phase one, which consisted of washing all metal pipes, cleaning and inspecting all wooden pipes, relocating and repairing several chests and replacing hundreds of magnet caps under the pipe chests, is finished. The work is being done by organ technician Clint Meadway and associate Russ Evans of Seattle. Phase two consisted of replacing the relay (electronic brain) and capture actions with new digital units.
 
Since the church is in a campaign to pay off the debt of the Family Life Center/Gymnasium all monies to facilitate the renovation project come from donations both from within and without the church. Costly though it may seem, early proposals that we got put the first phase at $60,000. We paid $20,000 and got a receipt for $49,600 marked "Paid in Full". The relay proposal was $38,000. Our relay cost $12,500 with installation cost of $10,000. God is doing wonders for our organ. There are two phases left to do at an estimated cost of $35,000. The first one is to releather three off-set pedal chests and the second is complete tonal finishing. Our dream is to have the organ in pristine condition to permit concerts by the country's professional theatre organ concert artists and to record CD's for sale to help with the maintenance and upkeep.
 
For more information contact:
 
Ken Fuller - Principal Organist
Spokane First Church of the Nazarene
9004 N. Country Homes Blvd.
Spokane, WA 99218
Church (509) 467-8986
Cell Phone (509) 999-2057