Perfecting the pipes
Photos: LOREN BENOIT/Press Rene Marceau is helping renovate Community United Methodist Church’s pipe organ. The 109-year-old pipe organ used to be in the Methodist church downtown in the early 1900s before it moved to the Community United Methodist Church off Ramsey Road.
The Community Methodist Church organ fills two chamber room with over 1,500 pipes and swell shades, seen top right, that are used to control the sound volume. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
The church’s pipe organ has many different stops to create particular sounds. Most organs have multiple ranks of pipes of differing pitch and volume that the player can employ.
The Community United Methodist Church pipe organ chambers are on the second floor.
COEUR d’ALENE — The rooms above Community United Methodist Church's celebration hall aren't used for storage or spare space.
They house the elaborate pipes and pieces of a 300-square-foot, 1,581-pipe organ that has been a part of the church since it was first installed in the church's former location in 1909.
"In little Coeur d'Alene," said organist Cynthia Marlette. "Coeur d'Alene would have been really small at that time."
Indeed, the Lake City was tiny when the first wind was pumped into the Opus 667 of the Estey Organ Company. Not quite 7,300 people resided in Coeur d'Alene a year after this organ was installed, according to the 1910 Idaho census published by the Department of Commerce and Labor Bureau of the Census.
The church, originally known as First United Methodist Church, was located in what is now the Coeur d'Alene Wedding Chapel at Seventh Street and Wallace Avenue. It moved in the early 1990s to its current location at 1470 W. Hanley Ave.
In the time between the installment and the move, Marlette said she believes a fair amount of organists played this instrument. She has played this particular organ for about four years, and she feels connected to the past as she presses on its wooden keys and radiating pedal board.
"It really makes it an honor to play this instrument," she said. "I knew the woman that played this for a lot of years. She passed away several years ago, and I do remember her when I play this. It’s an honor to be able to play such an amazing instrument."
The organ's console is inside the celebration hall, where it is played for worship services, weddings, funerals and other church functions. Signals are sent rapid-fire through a pipe connecting the console to the relay, windchests and pipes that release its glorious sound.
"It’s a thrill. I particularly enjoy playing loud. It kind of envelops you, you know?” said Marlette, who has been playing since she was in high school. "Pipe organs are just an amazing instrument and there’s much more to them than people realize."
The historic organ required a few repairs through the years, including an overhaul by the Moller Organ Company of Hagerstown, Md., that was completed in 1978.
As years marched on, the organ again began to show deterioration.
"By summer 2015, it became apparent that the organ would become unusable in time," said organist Mark Haberman.
An organ renovation committee was appointed in 2015 and a fund drive began that summer. The next renovation would cost $125,000.
"The scope of the project would include providing a fully renovated console, complete with a new electrical system, and an entirely new and expanded combination action," Haberman said. "All that would remain from the previous console would be the console shell, the pedalboard and the bench, all dating to 1978."
Marceau and Associates Pipe Organ Builders, a Seattle-based pipe organ maintenance company, has been updating and renovating the historic organ while giving it a signature touch.
“This is kind of an interesting pedigree of pipework,” said company founder Rene Marceau, plucking one of the pipes out of a row as he worked on the organ Tuesday. "There are some from the original 1909, and then there are some from 1978 and then there are some different sources."
Community United Methodist Church is inviting the community to see and hear the newly reconditioned pipe organ Sunday, Nov. 11. The organ will be dedicated to the glory of God in the 9 a.m. traditional worship service and a dedication recital will be held at 2 p.m.
After this renovation, the historic organ will be ready to immerse its listeners in its heavenly sound for years to come.
"I just don’t think there’s anything better than singing with the organ," Marlette said. "I think the organ leads the singing and worship in a way that is unsurpassed."