A church closes, but where does its pipe organ go?
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A 112-year-old pipe organ in the sanctuary of a now-closed church needs a new home.
The $500,000 instrument is in good condition and free – if you can pay $10,000 to $30,000 to remove it from the old West Nashville United Methodist Church and reassemble it.
Trouble is, the 1905 George Kilgen & Son pipe organ isn’t alone. About 450 other organs are available across the U.S., and demand is slight, said John Bishop, executive director of the Boston-based Organ Clearing House, which helps save high-quality pipe organs.
“If I have 450 organs listed and I can place 20 a year, I’m doing very well,” Bishop said.
The glut of organs is partly a consequence of declining church membership. Fewer people in the pews can lead to low bank balances and church closures.
Whenever a church closes, staff determine what items might fill a need elsewhere, said Amy Hurd, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church.
“We have repurposed a lot of things,” Hurd said. “Organs are problematic because most of our churches already have an organ, and they’re difficult to move.”
More than dwindling church membership is to blame. Contemporary worship style uses guitars and drums instead of organs, Bishop said. And less expensive electric organs have supplanted small and midsized pipe organs in small traditional churches.
The mechanical organ at West Nashville Methodist was shipped by rail from St. Louis, Mo., and installed in the church in 1906, said Dan Cook, who this year bought the church that closed last year. He is converting it into an event venue, and the organ isn’t in the plans.
“I don’t want to be the guy that sends it to the landfill,” Cook said.
The organ has been maintained exceptionally well through the years. Milnar Organ Co. in Nashville restored it in 1969 after it had been burned in a fire, founder Dennis Milnar said.
In the decades that followed, Milnar’s company and Fine Tuning of Nashville maintained it, Milnar said.
“It’s a lovely instrument,” he said. “The woodworking is just fine. Everything works like a charm.”
“It’s a shame to see something like a pipe organ, especially a good one in good condition, go without a use,” Bishop said. “But unless there’s somewhere active to put it and real interest in funding it, organs like that very, very frequently wind up in dumpsters.”
The now-shuttered West Nashville United Methodist Church in Nashville is being converted into an event venue and the building’s new owner doesn’t have plans to keep its 1905 Kilgen & Son pipe organ. The organ is free to anyone who can remove and reassemble it. Photo courtesy of The Tennessean/Larry McCormack
Dan Cook crawls out from behind the inner workings of a 1905 George Kilgen & Son pipe organ that’s at the now-closed West Nashville United Methodist Church in Nashville. He wants to get rid of the organ but not send it to a landfill. Photo courtesy of The Tennessean/Larry McCormack
West Nashville United Methodist Church is being developed into an event space, and that means its 1905 Kilgen & Son pipe organ needs a new home. Dan Cook, left, owner of the building, is willing to donate it, but moving it comes with what likely would be a $15,000 or more price tag. Photo courtesy of The Tennessean/Larry McCormack
The now-shuttered West Nashville United Methodist Church in Nashville is being converted into an event venue and the building’s new owner doesn’t have plans to keep its 1905 Kilgen & Son pipe organ. The organ is free to anyone who can remove and reassemble it. Photo courtesy of The Tennessean/Larry McCormack
Dan Cook crawls out from behind the inner workings of a 1905 George Kilgen & Son pipe organ that’s at the now-closed West Nashville United Methodist Church in Nashville. He wants to get rid of the organ but not send it to a landfill. Photo courtesy of The Tennessean/Larry McCormack
West Nashville United Methodist Church is being developed into an event space, and that means its 1905 Kilgen & Son pipe organ needs a new home. Dan Cook, left, owner of the building, is willing to donate it, but moving it comes with what likely would be a $15,000 or more price tag. Photo courtesy of The Tennessean/Larry McCormack