Putting up the Cross

Today our sculptor Thomas Marsh came down and we installed the cross for our new crucifix. Tom brought the corpus (image of Christ crucified) that he is sculpting to make sure the attachment points on the cross are in just the right place. 

After we put up scaffolding and tied a pulley to the beam, about eight strong men hoisted the 600 pound cross into place while another five kept it from spinning or swinging.

Yesterday, we got a chance to see the inside of the organ room. Here the guys are installing the cement board to the side wall of the Swell division. Today, the interior partitions started going up, including the frame of the inner swell shades for the Choir division.

This was a couple of weeks ago when the cast stone blocks were being lifted into position on top of the rear wall of the organ chamber.

The Organ

Our builder is the firm of Robert William Wallace of Virginia. In May, Dr. William W. Hamner, Jr., the tonal director for the project, took these photos of pipe work and others items being manufactured at A. R. Schopp's Sons, Inc. in Alliance, Ohio. Bill has designed us an amazing spec and the folks at Schopp do incredible work. 

8' Cornopean (Swell). The photo flash made the resonators look like brass, but they are 50% tin - 50% lead.

16' Major Bass. 

4' Octave (Choir). The drill is set there so you can get a sense of the size of the pipes/chest.

Swell shades being made (laminated).

A electric action chest top board turned upside-down and being wired up.

Church Interior

Here are some photos of the interior church renovation.

First, this is the wall behind the altar. We had it dismantled and rebuilt with these openings, behind which will be the organ in a newly built chamber.

The black structures are the steel support for a decorative reredos-like facade. This will include 28 pipes from three stops: Double Dulciana 16, Double Diapason 16, (Pedal) Diapason 8. These pipes will be in flamed copper.

Here you can see our new ceiling and recessed lighting. Our altar furnishings and Kawai grand piano are huddling under plastic while work is being done.

The view from the altar. The main floor of the church is now porcelain tile, replacing wall-to-wall carpet. The acoustics have improved dramatically. We also will have new pews (cushion free!) and new HVAC.

More Console Photos

The right side stop jamb. Don't worry, the draw knob nameplates haven't been glued on yet. The Division nameplates, (GREAT and CHOIR in this photo) are divisional cancels, i.e. when you press them, the stops for that division are all cancelled (turned off.)

Closeup of the stop draw knobs. You can just make out the colored rings on the outer edge of some of the name plates. They indicate which stops are doubly enclosed and in which enclosure. The colored rings were inspired by the colored beveled edges of the knob plates of the Cavaillé-Coll organ in St. Sulpice in Paris. Pretty cool idea, I think!

The relay - built by Peterson.

The Console

Here are the latest photos of the console of our soon to be installed organ. We're going for an English style two-tone look.

Here are the right toe studs. There will be one more stud added to the second row.