ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
From: BBC, 5 March 2008
(This shows the usual level of journalistic licence.
The most important retoration work seems to have been repainting the console!)
Blackpool Opera House will be filled with the sound of organ music when the restoration of its
classic 1930s Wurlitzer is unveiled to the public.
The theatre instrument is one of only five in England which remain in their original setting.
It had fallen into disrepair but has now been cleaned, restored and repainted by the Cannock Chase Cinema Organ Society.
The society is giving a performance at the theatre on Wednesday to unveil it.
Designed by Horace Finch, one of the most famous organists of the era, the organ was the last new Wurlitzer to be installed in England when it was bought by the opera house 1939.
Former glory
Owner Leisure Parcs was considering selling it before the organ society stepped in early in the New Year.
A team led by Steve Tovey spent two days a week in the resort restoring the instrument.
Mr Tovey said the sale of the Wurlitzer would have been a "tumultuous and calamitous loss" to the resort.
Before the restoration, his team had to work through 11 miles of pipes and 1,500 cables to identify
problems with the workings.
The organ was then restored and repainted to bring it back to its former 1939 glory.
After the grand unveiling on Wednesday, further performances will be staged in June and later in the year.