The Kilgen Pipe Organ at the Lakeview Congregational Church

One of the main features of the Lakeview Church is the Kilgen Pipe Organ which was formerly installed at the Embassy theater in Waltham. A true theater organ, the instrument was removed from the theater building in the 1970s when urban renewal slated the old Embassy for demolition. What exactly is a THEATER ORGAN? Click Here to find out. The late Arthur Clark, Mayor of Waltham at the time, stipulated that the city would donate the organ to any public institution in Waltham that wanted it. The Lakeview Church needed a pipe organ and accepted this fine instrument. The organ is now undergoing a complete overhaul and installation in the church. The work is being done by Eric Larson of Ipswich, MA who has extensive experience with theater pipe organ restoration and also has a Robert Morton theater organ in his home. Click on the link below to see pictures of the Kilgen restoration work in progress. When we are closer to the completion of the work, we will include a notice in this site about when the instrument will be completed and ready to play again. When completed, this will add another theater organ to the greater Boston area where very few instruments of this type remain. If you would like Eric to help you with a pipe organ project, click on his name.

Occasionally when theater organs have been installed in churches, the special effects and percussion instruments are removed, pipework is replaced, and in general, the instrument otherwise undergoes significant changes. In effect it becomes no longer a theater organ, and yet it does not really become a true classic church organ either. At Lakeview, we are restoring the instrument as a true theater organ. As such it will be an excellent representative of the Kilgen company's theater organ work. All percussions and sound effects will be fully operational. As a true theater organ it will have the tonal versatility to be an excellent liturgical instrument and can also be used for all types of concert and recital work.

This particular instrument is rare and unusual. Built by the now defunct Kilgen Organ Company of St. Louis, MO, it was only one of twelve instruments of this particular model, Kilgen U-20. Of the twelve U-20 instruments that Kilgen built, only two others are known to survive.

Click here to see some pictures of the main chamber. More pictures will be added soon. These pictures added 6 5 and 6 09 06. More pictures added on 6 30 06, 8 8 06 and still more on 12 27 06