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Alpenrose Dairy - 4/50 Skinner & 2/5 Kimball
Portland, Oregon
6149 S.W. Shattuck Road
Back to the Northwest Public Theatre Organ Installations page
Skinner console. Photo courtesy Jim Stettner
In addition to the large Skinner (originally installed 1916 in Portland's Civic Auditorium), the
Alpenrose Dairy Park also has a 2/5 Kimball.
The following is an edited version of material from the Alpenrose web site:
© 2007, Alpenrose Dairies.
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Many Portland residents had lost the hope that they would ever again hear the resonant sounds of this
huge pipe organ, originally housed in the Civic Auditorium, when the giant instrument was dismantled
and stored. Fortunately, when the Portland Civic Auditorium was remodeled long ago the organ was
declared surplus by the city and it was purchased by Alpenrose Dairy. Through the skill and dedication
of David Newman, the organ rings out again. |
David Newman at the console
Alpenrose Opera House |
It took Mr. Newman 3 1/2 years to complete the huge task of re-assembling the organ, with it's
4,000 pipes and four keyboards . The longest pipe is almost thirty feet long, and a special housing
had to be built to hold the gigantic musical system, which now holds a place of honor in the 600
seat Alpenrose Opera House. Mr. Newman built a wooden replica of the workings of the organ before he
began actual restoration, and that replica can been seen today in the museum. |
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The Skinner Organ, installed in the Civic Auditorium in 1916, was the eighth largest in the world.
The pipes are made of wood, tin, and zinc to produce different tones, and range in size from a few
inches to thirty feet. Thousands of reeds, bellows and valves help compose the sound. Dozens of
"stops" produce different musical effects. It's a truly unique experience to hear a concert from this
fantastic musical monument. |
Interior of the 600 seat Opera House
Photo courtesy Jim Stettner
The Alpenrose 2/5 Kimball console. Photo courtesy Jim Stettner
Accordin to Jim Stettner, the OHS (Organ Historical Society) Handbook for the Portland convention in 1997 states (in parenthesis on page 87),
"The building also houses a Kimball theatre organ, said to have come from Spokane, Washington."
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