Donations needed to restore pipe organ
March 02, 2015

St. Mary's Catholic Church in Pierce City, MO will host a benefit concert in St. Mary's gymnasium on Saturday, Apr. 18, 2015, featuring the Mark Chapman Band. The event is an effort to raise money to restore their pipe organ, pictured. Doors will open at 7 p.m.; the show will take place from 8-11 p.m. Featured also is a cash bar. Light snacks will be provided.

General seating tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Reserved seating, including a table for eight, is $200. For more information, including how to make a donation, phone (417) 476-2827 or go online here.

The organ that served parishioners of St. Mary's for over 100 years developed issues due to years of inattention. A report from Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, a restoration company from Lake City, Iowa, reveals that numerous repairs are needed to restore the organ's unique sound.

Dobson's research indicates the organ was manufactured by the Felgemaker firm, originally of Buffalo, New York and later of Erie, Pennsylvania. Church history suggests that the organ was moved to St. Mary's from another church, thought to be in Connecticut, in the early 1900s. A search of the Organ Historical Society's database suggests that the opus number 504 stamped on the instrument's wind chest places construction of the instrument around 1889.

A pencil inscription inside the organ reads "Hugo E. Stahl Jan. 22/13." According to research, Hugo Stahl worked for the Barkhoff Organ Company at one time and later ran his own firm, Hugo E Stahl and Co, out of Chicago, a firm documented to have installed or moved numerous pipe organs throughout the central U.S.

"It is one-of-a-kind." said a Dobson Builders representative.

According to Kristi Hayes-Chapman, the repairs needed are extensive and some parts will need to be taken off site and repaired at the Dobson Builders workshop. Some cleaning work will be done on site and laborers will be enlisted to volunteer to clean over 650 pipes in the organ by hand.

"It will not be an inexpensive process to restore the organ to its former glory," Hayes-Chapman said. "As with any task, project or undertaking, it takes a community and church family to make it manageable."

The complete restoration will begin this May and complete about September 2015. The estimated cost of restoration is approximately $125,000. After restoration, the estimated value of the organ will exceed $500,000.

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