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http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/organ-121609

http://www.journalpilot.com/articles/2009/10/07/news/news2.txt
“”135-year-old organ installed at Sts. Peter & Paul church

The “new” organ at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Nauvoo is about 135 years old.

The pipe organ being installed in the church dates back to 1874, just slightly after the church was built in 1867.

The church has not had a pipe organ for over 50 years, but this one was donated recently, and is being installed at the church by Phil Hoenig of Fort Madison, Iowa.

The organ has had a circuitous life, which started in Keokuk, Iowa. It was originally in a church in Keokuk that was most recently the site of the Christ Vision TV station on Fourth Street. Hoenig bought the organ and later sold it to a man in Florida, who thought it would be something he could sell to turn a profit, according to Father Thomas Szydlik of the church.

“The organ never went to Florida, but Hoenig found a buyer, and installed it into a large house for its new owner in Kentucky about seven years ago,” Father Szydlik said.

When this owner decided to sell his house this summer, he wanted the organ removed.

“Find somewhere I can donate it and remove it, or I will haul it away to the junk yard,” was the order Hoenig got.

“The (Sts. Peter and Paul) trustees learned about this in July. On Aug. 8, Phil Hoenig and his sons went to Kentucky, dismantled the organ in one day, loaded it on a Ryder truck and delivered it here,” Szydlik said.

It will cost $20,000 to $25,000 to install the organ, but its approximate value is $450,000 when it comes to insurance purposes. Now Hoenig is about finished assembling the organ in the choir loft of the church in Nauvoo.

Rita Allen, a church trustee and organist at Sts. Peter and Paul, said she has been at the church for 35 years, and there has always been an electric organ. The church bought an Allen digital organ in the 1980s.

“I’ve played organ since high school. I learned on a pipe organ. He says playing this is like playing a spinet,” Allen said. Her daughter, Therese Hayes, and Connie Hobart are two other organists who will play during services on the “new” organ.

The main changes made to the organ since it was built are the blower and lights. The organ works with a large bellow to pump air into the pipes. That was originally pumped by hand whenever it was played and now is electrical.

The workings are all mechanical, with small strips of wood as levers going from the keys to the 985 pipes. Some pipes are metal and some are wooden, made of white pine. The largest is 16 feet tall. Both the metal and wooden pipes have been repainted with their original designs by Hoenig.

“There’s no blue print for putting this together. It’s all in his head,” Szydlik said. “It should be piped by the end of the week. Then it needs to be adjusted and tuned. Hoenig thinks it should be done and ready to use by the end of October.”

Allen tells about being at a meeting recently when women were wondering what had happened to the old organ from the Christ Vision building.

“They talked about how they used to go to organ concerts there,” Allen said. She explained to the group that the old organ was coming back to the area.

This fall, the organ may again be used for concerts at its new home in Nauvoo. “”