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W I L T O N
Prison shows off restored organ
1916 instrument made for sanitarium
BY LEE COLEMAN Gazette Reporter
A 1916 Austin pipe organ, which was installed in the chapel of Mount McGregor
state prison when the facility was a tuberculosis sanitarium, has been restored
to its original glory. "We are here tonight to pay tribute to some
volunteers," said prison Superintendent Harold McKinney during a dedication
program at the minimum-medium security state prison on Friday. "But
more important, we are here to bring our organ back to life," McKinney
said.
Farrell
Goehring, organist and music director at Bethesda Episcopal Church in Saratoga
Springs, had the honor of playing the first musical arrangements on the
90-year-old instrument since its restoration. The organ's powerful voice
filled the chapel, where more than 100 inmates and guests were gathered,
and spilled out onto the prison yard. When Goehring was finished showing
the audience what the remarkable instrument could do, the chapel filled
with applause.
Gordon
Boyd of Saratoga Springs, a regular volunteer at the prison, organized a
fund-raising campaign among his friends and fellow music lovers. The Mt.
McGregor Organ Fund was able to raise the $13,500 to have the Austin Organ
Opus 690 renovated and repaired. A large chunk of the money was raised at
Boyd's 60th birthday party held earlier this year. Instead of a gift, his
friends were urged to contribute to the restoration fund. The 783-pipe organ,
which was built in Hartford, Conn., by the Austin Company, was installed
in the chapel of what was the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. tuberculosis
sanitarium in 1916. The medical facility would receive patients from the
insurance company's large Manhattan offices and nurse them back to health
with fresh air and food grown on the facility's farms located in the valley
below.
"Our volunteers have stepped up and truly hit a home run," McKinney
said about the restoration of the prison organ. Boyd said all the work on
the organ has been done with private donations. "Not a dime of taxpayer
money has been spent," Boyd said. He said there is more work to be
done on the instrument, now that it has been returned to working order.
"We care about the men who pass through here," Boyd said about
the inmates at the state prison. He is hoping that now that the organ is
working, choral groups can visit and present concerts and the inmates themselves
may be able to be organize a choral group, learn to read music, and present
their own concerts. "It's a modest but achievable goal," Boyd
said. Inmate Vincent Harris, who is noted for his artwork at the prison,
presented Boyd with a painting of the Adirondack mountains. "For the
past few years Mr. Boyd has come up here and helps the inmates," Harris
said. "I can't find words to express our appreciation."
After the singing of a religious hymn accompanied by the organ, the Organ
Historical Society presented superintendent McKinney with a plaque honoring
the restoration of the Austin Organ Opus 690 by technician Victor Hoyt from
Austin Organs. Stephen Schnurr, secretary of the Organ Historical Society,
said the society, with members across the United States, has presented such
citations to just 350 restored organs. The society held its 50th annual
national convention in Saratoga Springs over the weekend.
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"Each of these instruments have a marvelous history," Schnurr
said. For example, the Austin Company knew it had organ 690 somewhere in
Saratoga County. However, the company inventory said its was located in
a veterans' camp in the town of Wilton. The veterans' camp was located in
what is now the state prison after the tuberculosis sanatorium closed in
the late 1930s. But the camp ceased to exist in the mid-1950s and was replaced
by the Wilton Developmental Center for people with developmental disabilities.
A larger center for these clients was built on Ballard Road in the early
1970s and the mountaintop facility was turned into a state prison in the
mid-1970s.
"The king is back," said Boyd about the prison organ. He said
that organs are considered the "king of instruments" because of
all the voices and tones they have. He said the Austin Organ Opus 690, with
an Austin Action on a Universal Chest, two manuals, 12 ranks and 14 speaking
stops, was back in business "in this most unique of all places."
Contributions toward the second phase of organ restoration can be made to:
Mt. McGregor Organ Fund, c/o Gordon Boyd,
99 State St
Saratoga Springs
NY 12866.
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