Saint Luke Lutheran Church

Dix Hills, NY

 

1951 Casavant

Opus # 2061

III/26

Stoplist

Exterior   Interior   Console   Organ

St. Luke Lutheran Church of Dix Hills, New York realized they needed a new organ.  After about 20 years of use, their organ, an electronic by AOB, (Associated Organ Builders of Auburn) was failing.  From a loud, persistent hum in the loudspeakers to the unplayable middle octave of keys, some serious repairs were necessary to make the organ listenable or even playable.  Having toured several churches that we care for, including the new organs by us in Northport and Carle Place, the church decided on replacing its electronic organ with a true pipe organ.        An instrument of modest size, residing in a church that recently closed, became available soon after that decision was made.  Plans were made to relocate, rebuild and install that organ in St. Luke's along with some additions.  That plan fell through as the closed church reopened and wisely decided the pipe organ should stay.  At the same time, a behind schedule church construction in Florida let a 1950's era Casavant go up for sale.  The church acted fast under our guidance, and the pipe organ was here in Deer Park within a month.        The organ's first home was in Eglise St. Aime, Asbestos, Quebec.  It moved twice to other churches in the same town, first to St. Dominique Savyo in 1965 and then about 10 years later it went to Eglise Notre Dame de Toutes Joies.  Then it came to our facility in Deer Park.        Originally an electro-pneumatic design, we first disassembled the Great and Swell windchests.  Next we installed electro-mechanical pipe valves along with new, easily removable bottom boards.  The components inside the chests for the bass pipes were re-leathered, and all chests were lacquered.  Though most of the pipework was in good shape, several pipes needed repair and entire ranks were painted and polished.  The stoppers in the wooden pipes were re-leathered and the seams were re-glued and tightened.  Many pipes needed to be mitered and others un-mitered.  New pipe slides were crafted for the largest pipes.  New reservoirs were required also due to size limitations .  The original blower was utilized and placed in a soundproof room in the Choir room closet.        The loft for the organ was newly constructed specifically for this organ.  The layout of the organ was designed to complement the interior angles of St. Luke's.  We regulated the organ on a slightly higher pressure as this sanctuary, constructed almost entirely of wood, is not very reverberant.  The final tuning brought the organ to A=440 Hz pitch.  For the console, we rebuilt the original AOB utilizing a Peterson ICS-4000 system.  The finishing touches included the addition of chimes and a zimbelstern.        The organ was used for Christmas 2005, and was completed in 2006.