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Balboa
Theatre in San Diego Acquires "Wonder"
Morton
This
article appeared in the American
Theatre Organ Society Web Journal
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
One
more of the five Wonder Mortons is going
to a new home. The 4/23 organ originally
installed in the Loew's Valencia Theatre
in Jamaica, Queens, New York will be installed
in the Balboa Theatre in San Diego.
In
1966, the late Peter Schaeble purchased
the organ from the theatre and had it
installed in an addition to his Long Island
house. After his death in 1996, Jasper
Sanfilippo acquired the organ and stored
it with the idea of installing it in the
carousel building on his properly. This
did not come about.
The
Balboa Theatre Foundation intends to restore
the theatre which once had a smaller Robert
Morton organ. That organ was removed in
1931 and installed in another San Diego
theatre where it remains today. The Balboa
Theatre Foundation has purchased the Wonder
Morton from Sanfilippo to install in the
restored theatre. The restoration will
take about two years.
Only
one of the five Wonder Mortons, originally
installed in the greater New York area
remains in its original location at Loew's
United Palace Theatre, 175th Street and
Broadway in Manhattan. The one from Loew's
Jersey Theatre in Jersey City is now in
the Santa Barbara Arlington Theatre. The
Morton from Loew's Paradise Theatre in
the Bronx is being installed in Loew's
Jersey Theatre (where the original home
of the Arlington organ). The Morton in
Loew's Kings Theatre in Brooklyn was broken
up for parts but its restored console
is now part of Paul Vandermolen's residence
organ near Chicago. Lastly, the organ
from Loew's Valencia in Jamaica, Queens
is going to be installed in the Balboa
Theatre in San Diego.
--Robert
Ridgeway Curator of the Sanfilippo Collection
"Copyright
2003, The
American Theatre Organ Society, www.atos.org.
All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission."
More Information
To be in tune with history - Restoration of a rare Wonder Morton Organ is under way for renovated 1924 Balboa Theatre
By Dani Dodge STAFF WRITER - The San Diego Union-Tribune
January 21, 2007
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-----Original Message-----
From: TheatreOrgansListserver@theatreorgans.com [mailto:TheatreOrgansListserver@theatreorgans.com] On Behalf Of Alan Ashton
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 2:51 PM
To: Theatreorgans-L@theatreorgans.com
Subject: [Theatreorgans-L] Robert Morton
Hi everyone,
All
this wonderful news about Robert Morton's, I wonder if anyone knows if
the one is still in the Pete Schaeble Residence, Rosedale, Long Island,
NY. According to the sleeve notes on the only recording I know of that
was made on it (Concert Recording CR0038) it came from Loews
Valentia(sic) Jamaica, Long island. Pete I know has passed on and the
last I heard was that there was a group who were trying to obtain it.
Is this another of the five 'wonder Mortons' or is this actually the
proposed Balboa instrument?.
Alan.
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Posting on Theatreorgans-L 1/23/07:
This WAS the Pete Schaeble instrument. Curt Mangel and I took it
apart, crated it, and packed it in a semi-trailer. The newspaper
story was incorrect……it was playing when we dismantled it
in 1996 (although Pete had been dead for years and it was acquired by
Jasper Sanfilippo from the estate after Pete’s father died) and
the trailer was parked INSIDE a large warehouse. The initial plan
was to install the organ in the Carousel Building COMPLETELY ORIGINAL
and as a result we removed all the relays, and packed everything.
Ultimately for various reasons we decided not to install the organ and
Jasper asked me to find a theatre somewhere in the United States that
would appreciate the organ and install it as close to original as
possible. Chris Gorsuch made me aware of the Balboa Theatre
project in San Diego and we contacted them and closed the deal.
The only money exchanged was to cover the cost of removal and
storage. The trailer was transported to California to Wendell
Shoberg’s restoration shop and purchased since it was more
practical to leave the crated items inside it as it was restored.
We specifically requested a used insulated former refrigerated trailer
when we first packed the organ on Long Island since we anticipated that
the instrument might have to be in it for many years and we wanted it
to be protected.
Since this was the flagship model for the Robert Morton company, it was
felt from the beginning that it needed to be restored and made
available to a large audience.
Robert Ridgeway, Curator
Sanfilippo Collection
Barrington Hills
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