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Music Hall Renovation Updates are Complete!
The great Robert-Morton Theatre Pipe Organ has been cleaned, rebuilt and is playing again!.
More information will be coming out soon. Thank you for your continued support.
Presidents Message December, 2007
Greetings to everyone, it’s been a long, too long time since I wrote to you about what the club was doing and going to be doing. Finally, the work within the Music Hall is “almost” complete but the stage is done and the organ is back, better than ever! Following almost a two year hiatus at the Music Hall the recent get-together was our first foray back following a long term of work, cleaning and just plain mashing of teeth to get the Morton going again. Well, it is back and noticeably improved!
In April, 2006 a restoration process was started with the massive 25 horsepower blower being disassembled, moved and taken to Independent Electric Co. for installation of new bearings, cleaning and rewinding of the motor itself. The motor was returned back to the Music Hall basement for storage in mid 2006 and there it sat awaiting reinstallation back into the blower housing which finally occurred in June, 2007. Coincidentally, in December, 2006, upon a routine walk-through of the hall during stage construction, we were horrified to find the hall so full of cement dust you wouldn’t have believed it! Taking a brief peek into both organ chambers we found that the solo side was OK with no sign of destructive amounts of dust but the main side was another story. Everything was covered with dust to the point you could write your name on anything. So began a quest to correct the presumed problems this dust might and, most likely, would have eventually caused. About June, 2007, the prime contractor for stage construction finally agreed to donate to KCTPO almost $40,000 to clean, repair and replace all contents of the main chamber. This work was then initiated and completed this past July with the work of an outside contractor from Minneapolis, MN. The results were terrific and should see the whole organ perform better and with improved stability for a long time to come.
Also, during the long hiatus of stage work, the solo organ saw the finishing of re-winding and the addition of our new Krumet rank plus the moving of all trap (percussive effects) to an unenclosed section of the upper-chamber area for better projection without being behind expression shutters. That work should be completed by late November, before the KC Ballet’s use of the organ for their Nutcracker production in December.
The 2008 board appointments were presented and approved by those attending the Oct. 28th “get-together” which reflected a NO CHANGE status. This was due to our need to retain stability for the year due to the renegotiation of our long-term agreement with the city to house our prized organ. It was felt changing of board officers at this time might jeopardize any preliminary plans already laid to start the process of presentation of our renewal needs for the coming agreement. It is hoped this proposed agreement will be agreed to by the City before the cut-off date of December 21st, 2008. The board officers for 2008 are: President-Bob Fray; Vice President-Bill Beningfield; Secretary/Treasurer-David Roebuck; new board member replacing the departure of Marvin Faulwell is Troy Sorbo who is welcomed into the roll of fund raising and event coordination. There remain no further changes within the board for the 2008 year at present.
Sunday events planned for 2008 are: Jim Riggs on April 6th; Ken Double on June 29th and Marvin Faulwell on September 21st presenting the classic silent Buster Keaton film “The General”. There might even be some surprises IF we find sufficient funding and time in the ever-busy hall to use the organ. Stay tuned - -
It is important to note that during the prolonged period of the stage construction work, the membership did not significantly change; we remain very close to the same membership level we had in March, 2006 which represents quite an accomplishment and is certainly testimony to the commitment of our members to stay with it through the tough times. On behalf of the board, we all thank each and every club member for their commitment and support to our organization. To have this long a down-time could have, at worst, meant the collapse of our club but, fortunately, this did not happen. Our financial status has remained positive though modest but, as always, with hopes of improvement now that we’re back into business once again. Troy Sorbo who is new to our board has accepted the post of “Fund Raising Chair” and will, most likely, be contacting all members about new plans for raising the ever necessary funds to continue the good work of our organization. We, unfortunately, cannot continue operations as before, having lost two major contributors this past year and without the near-likelihood of replacing these two, we are headed for issues which might seriously curtail our ability to care for the Morton or even cut the ability to continue a modest concert schedule.
We are not yet at this point but now is the time to renew our plans and programs to revitalize the foundations of KCTPO. Please remember to be as generous as you can; it is, after all, for a good cause and very much needed! The past almost two years has seen the expenditure of substantial resources to both maintain and upgrade the organ plus the death of two very major long-time supporters.
In closing, let me again thank each and every one of you for your continued support and generosity. Remember, the board and I all welcome your expression of wisdom anytime. We try very hard to maintain a balance between the organ’s constant needs and those of us who enjoy the listening of our prized Morton. Our presence in the MH seems to becoming an enormous issue within a facility which is focusing on cost savings than ever before and, perhaps, less likely to be so giving when pressures are growing everywhere to cut. This is, hopefully, going to be a great year, one which should see us back on track. Let’s all attend each event and bring friends, family and anyone in to share in our excitement of something unique, soul enriching and just plain fun. KCTPO cannot continue without improved attendance and ever more financial support. So, when the April 6th 2008 concert date arrives, let’s see the hall orchestra floor filled to overflowing!
No kidding, it can happen BUT ONLY IF YOU ALL try to achieve a goal of making our attendance consistently improve. If you know how to make it happen, let me or any board member know. Maybe you have a better answer; we certainly don’t know it all! This is one of THE most significant efforts for KCTPO this coming year, we need everyone’s help to achieve some demonstrable attendance improvements along with membership growth and individual financial support beyond the routine.
Respectfully and with thanks to all,
Bob Fray, President
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