In its 118 years of service to Church of the Holy Communion, the Odell pipe organ has provided generations of parishioners with music that consistently affords a genuine spiritual presence in our church. In an age of electronically produced music, this pipe organ provides a tonal quality that present day instruments are unable to match. At this time, a major renovation that preserves the historic integrity of this instrument is of utmost importance to prevent irreversible damage. A complete restoration will allow the Odell organ to be returned to its original splendor.

The organ has begun showing signs of urgent need. It has literally spoken and we have listened. Among the issues confronting the instrument are:

1. Both of the manual keyboards and the pedalboard have keys that do not function, which greatly inhibits performance. The key and stop actions need to be cleaned, rebushed and repaired.
2. The windchest, which controls most of the organ’s vital functions, needs extensive repair to many of its mechanisms, including the swell box, the table board and releathering of the pallet valves.
3. Despite regular tunings, the tonal quality of the organ has suffered through the years, which is normal for an instrument of this age. A thorough cleaning and repair of the pipes would restore the original beauty of the Odell tonal quality.

Kindly refer to the detailed proposal from David E Wallace & Co., LLC for a complete scope of work for the restoration of the organ.

Without restoration, the organ will continue to deteriorate, thereby escalating the cost of repairs in the future. It would be irresponsible not to make every effort to restore this valuable and historic musical instrument now.

About the Odell Pipe Organ

The organ at Church of the Holy Communion was built in 1888 by the J.H. & C.S. Odell pipe organ firm – a company established in 1859 and renowned for producing instruments of exceptional quality. This instrument is a stunning example of their work; an Opus 249 tracker (mechanical action) pipe organ, with 2 keyboards and 9 ranks of pipes. This historic and beautiful hymn organ has faithfully served its congregation for the past 118 years.

Throughout the years, the organ has received regular maintenance and tunings, provided mainly by the Foley – Baker Inc. and J.H. & C.S. Odell organ companies. In 1938, some major restorative work was done to the windchests by the Odells, including a thorough rehabilitation of all perishable parts – specifically the pallet and bellows leather – as well as some other repairs to the pedalboard and the swell pedal.

At the present time, the windchests require full restorative work, which is typical for most well made mechanical action organs that reach this age. Once the chests are verhauled they can be expected to easily last another sixty years, and likely much longer.The wind reservoir, or bellows, also needs to be overhauled. This reservoir is unique in that the original hand crank and feeders are still present and intact – this greatly enhances the monetary and historical value of the instrument.

While the pipes themselves are in excellent condition, they are in need of cleaning, repair and tuning. The action of all the keyboards needs to be refurbished and restored. The final area of restoration would be to the organ case itself, which would require stripping, repair and refinishing of all the original walnut case components.

While it is difficult to put a price tag on an organ of historical value such as this, the industry median for a new mechanical pipe organ is $25,000 per rank. This is a nine rank organ, so the replacement value is estimated at $225,000.

After researching and interviewing four different organ building companies, our committee chose David E. Wallace & Co. LLC, Pipe Organ Builders to perform the restoration work on our instrument. The estimate to restore the Odell to its original condition is approximately $80,000. The cost is significant, but well less than half the replacement cost of an instrument whose value to our congregation is immeasurable.

Based on the facts presented, we hope you agree that beyond preserving its historic value, restoring the Odell pipe organ makes sound financial sense. This organ is an extremely important part of our church’s history and present parish life. We hope that you will lend your support to this worthy effort.