Dobson Pipe Organ Builders will reinstall Casavant Opus 3105, a three-manual, 74-rank instrument built for the Clapp Recital Hall of the University of Iowa, Iowa City, in 1971 during the tenure of Gerhard Krapf; in 1972 , it was the largest mechanical-action instrument installed in an American university. The organ will be refurbished with minimal changes and installed in St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, which is building a new worship space in University Heights, Iowa.
The Hancher-Voxman-Clapp complex that housed the recital hall was severely damaged by a flood in 2008 and was scheduled for demolition in 2013. The organ’s future was in serious doubt as demolition neared. Peterson Contractors, Inc., which was to demolish the complex and had salvage rights to the remaining contents, donated the organ to St. Andrew Presbyterian Church. The organ was removed to storage at Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Ltd., in Lake City, Iowa. The project is expected to be completed in 2015.
For information: dobsonorgan.com.
