Database Manager on May 28th, 2015:
Originally Wurlitzer Style F with 2 manuals, 8 ranks<BR>
Factory date: July 29, 1922<br>
Factory date: 1925 - additions and 3m console
Database Manager on May 28th, 2015:
In December 1923, a new Vox Humana was installed in the main chamber.<BR>
A significant expansion was completed by Wurlitzer in January 1926 with a new 3-manual paneled console; the original Violin and Violin Celeste were replaced with a Viol d-Orchestre, Viol Celeste; additional ranks added were a Brass Trumpet, Quintadena, Oboe Horn, Salicional and Kinura. With this enlargement, Wurlitzer Job Number 703, this instrument became a 3/14 Wurlitzer, Style 260 Special. Haden Read rededicated the organ with a concert program in February 1926. Assisting with the picture accompaniment at this time were Vera Eckert and William A. Hackney.[www.kywurlitzer.com]
Database Manager on May 28th, 2015:
After nearly fifty years of being silent, the organ was purchased in 1977 by Roy Davis of McMinnville, Tenn., for installation in a pizza parlor in Chicago area. Before this could happen, Oscar Wilson purchased the organ and contracted Heaston Pipe Organ Company of Brownsburg, Indiana, to rebuild and reinstall the organ in his Fayette County mansion. In 1989, Oscar Wilson, who was in very poor health, donated the organ to the University of Kentucky, where it was stored until 1997.
Database Manager on May 28th, 2015:
The organ was slated for reinstallation in the Kentucky (Lafayette) Theatre. In 1997, KMW-TOP, Inc hired Carlton Smith Pipe Organ Restorations for technical assistance for respecification, expansion and restoration, of the Oscar Wilson (Kentucky Theatre) Wurlitzer theatre organ. Under technical guidance of internationally recognized theatre organist Mr. Lyn Larsen, Musical Contrasts, Inc of Phoenix, AZ, the organ was enlarged to a 3/16 instrument. The organ was expanded with additional ranks and percussion instruments, including 16- Tibia Clausa (12-notes), 16- Salicional (12-notes), 8- Brass Saxophone (61-notes), 8- Orchestral Oboe (61-notes), 8- English Post Horn (61-notes), 16- Oboe Horn (12-notes), 2- Tibia Clausa (12-notes) and 49-note Marimba harp; and Wurlitzer piano; in addition to variety of miscellaneous equipment including swell shades, manual chests, reservoirs, tremulants, winkers, cymbals, solid state relay, computer, blower, software and record/playback unit. [www.kywurlitzer.com]