What kind of organ has an estimated worth of more than $1 million?
One that has more than 1 million pieces, about 1,600 pipes, and can make the sounds of everything from sleigh bells to car horns. In other words, the Wurlitzer Theater Organ, known throughout Sioux City as the "Mighty Wurlitzer."
"It is pretty special to have something like this right here in Sioux City," organist and former Lawrence Welk Show star Bob Ralston said in November 2004 before the "Welcome Back Wurlitzer" organ concert.
And many other Sioux City residents agree, judging by the many people who came together over many years to return the organ to the Orpheum Theatre.
The theater organ's journey began in 1927 when it was installed at the Orpheum Theatre. Fifty years later in 1967 the Orpheum Theatre was leased from Iowa Public Service Co. and extensive remodeling began. The theatre's organ was presented by then-IPS President Frank Griffith to the city of Sioux City. The decision was made to remove the console and store it in a shed and the rest of the pipes and parts would be concealed by yards and yards of drapery in preparation for renovating the facility into a movie theater.
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Siouxland groups and individuals were approached in hopes of finding a permanent home for the organ. Finally, David Morgan, North Junior music director, brought the idea to the Sioux City Woman's Club. By an overwhelming vote, the organization took on and launched the "Save the Organ" project with a goal of $25,000. "Put your name on a pipe" was the theme.
A naming gift of $7,500 was given in honor of Thomas and Winifred Mould in the kick-off in 1971. Other major contributors put the campaign over its goal. An audience of 3,500 people attended the dedication of the moved and restored Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Organ on April 1, 1973 at the Sioux City Municipal Auditorium.
The organ sat at the auditorium until August 2002 when the decision was made to once again move it. The auditorium was about to undergo the transformation into the Tyson Events Center and the organ had fallen into a state of disrepair. The Orpheum Theatre, newly restored to it former glory, seemed like the perfect place.
"More mature people remembered it in the Orpheum," said Irving Jensen Jr., Orpheum Theatre Preservation Project's Board president. "It played before shows and they had organ concerts. People wanted to see it saved and when the city wasn't going to use it in the auditorium it was probably going to be thrown away."
Rick Darrow agrees. Darrow was a college student in 1971 when he landed a summer job helping to move the organ. He was also contacted to help bring the mighty instrument home.
"This is such a great thing to be saved. If it hadn't been moved the first time, it would have ended up in the junkyard. If it wasn't moved the second time, I think the same fate would have arrived," Darrow said.
Darrow and three of his Darrow Pipe Organ employees were at the Orpheum in February continuing to fine tune the instrument. The Darrow crew had moved the organ piece by piece from the auditorium in 2002 and by November 2004 they began moving the organ piece by piece to the Orpheum.
The hope was the Wurlitzer's reinstallation into the theatre would have been completed by November 2004, Jensen said, but locating the parts and electronics for the rare organ pushed the deadline back. The organ was functioning during the "Welcome Back Wurlitzer" concert, but did hiccup a few times.
Jensen estimates about 150 "Mighty Wurlitzers" are currently in use around the country, adding at one time more than 2,000 existed. Jensen also points out that the Sioux City Wurlitzer, thanks to generous donations from the community, is now bigger and better.
As part of the estimated $250,000 restoration process, the 3/13 Wurlitzer Model 240 became the 3/20 Wurlitzer Model 240 when seven sets of pipes, or ranks, were added.
Jensen hopes the organ is used frequently for weddings, graduations, symphony performances and other events at the Orpheum. Earlier this month the theater organ was used for a silent film festival.
"The organ gives us another option at the Orpheum. Theaters in the area compete and we want the best shows to come to Sioux City so we don't have to drive anyplace," Jensen said.
"It is really special that it is back in the Orpheum," Darrow said. "This is where it belonged in the first place."
