As I mentioned last time, I took a little day trip this weekend. I was in the Ogden, UT area, and I had some pipe organs to find! I wanted to go to the Ogden LDS Tabernacle, but there weren't any meetings there today, and every other chapel I went to was occupied with Primary Program Rehearsals, except for one: the Washington Terrace 4th & 6th Ward Chapel.
I discovered this building, once again, through LDS Architecture.
Here's the link to their page on the chapel. with some great photos (a lot better than mine, actually):
LDS Architecture - Washington Terrace 4th & 6th Ward
There's some great history of the building there and some more photos on the tour handouts they have posted. It's definitely a good read, but not necessarily organ-related.
I only had a few minutes in the chapel, so I didn't have time to turn on all the lights for the pictures, I had just enough time to play a hymn, before leaving to get to a visit with some dear friends.
Here's my best photo of the organ:
It looks pretty impressive with all those beautiful brass pipes! I've never seen a Wicks organ like this with brass pipes before. It looks absolutely stunning! The organ has some very nice stops on it, the flutes are very nice and the principals are decent. There's an interesting stop called Oboe (Syn) 8' which sounds like an 8' flute with a high mutation or 2' stop playing with it. I like it, but I'd rather have a real oboe stop.
Here's the console. Notice the clock off to the right. The good news is this organ is in tune and loved. The bad news is that it is in disrepair. The Swell manual will not play unless the Swell to Swell 16' or 4' is engaged, or the swell stops will play coupled to the Great. The trompette rank is also missing a couple of pipes. This is the beginning of the sad story.
Here's a close-up of the console. This organ is a 5-rank Wicks built in 1961. But it may not have too many more years in the building. According to some members I spoke to, LDS Facilities The bishops of the wards in this building believe that when this organ breaks, it's going away and an electronic organ is coming to replace it, since they did just that at the nearby stake center. Therefore, they have kept it quiet that the organ is having troubles.
Fortunately, the members of these wards love this organ so much that they could probably raise the money to fix it and get the Church to let them keep it, especially if they start now, before it disintegrates completely. I believe it's probably just some electrical or mechanical issues inside the console, since the Swell stops still play, just not where they normally would. If anyone knows someone in Facilities Maintenance, or someone that could help save this organ through either skills or funds, I think this chapel could make a neat, intimate concert venue for the Ogden area. The chapel has a lot of character and is a nice acoustic space. It may not be the fanciest or largest organ, but it has some great stops, is in a great building, and has a lot of character. If you know anyone who could help with this project, or who has some inside influence, please contact me at right with their information, and I will pass it on.
UPDATE April 2016: Through some contacts in the American Guild of Organists, I have learned that this organ has been inspected, and a local company has the contract to rebuild the instrument later this year! Upon hearing the sad story, I emailed this post to a contact in the Salt Lake City AGO Chapter, which administers the Ogden area, and he passed it on to Clay Christiansen, who sits on the Musical Instrument Selection Committee for the LDS Church worldwide. When he learned of the removal of the pipe organ at the stake center, Christiansen was apparently very surprised, responding that removing pipe organs "is NOT the policy!" He then went with several others to inspect the instrument, and the decision was made to renovate it.
Here's my selfie. I'm smiling because I hadn't yet heard the sad story. And because I have hope for it, and because I got the chance to play it. (And now, I'm smiling again because I know the happy ending!)
Have a great night everyone! I have plenty of pictures of organs I played a couple of months ago that I haven't had the chance to post yet, so keep your eyes out for those coming soon!
LDS Washington Terrace 4th & 6th Wards:
Built By: Wicks Organ Company
Opus Number (if indicated):
Year: 1961
Manuals: 2
Ranks: 5
Location: 4760 S 200 E Washington Terrace, UT
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