PORTLAND – The nonprofit organization that operates the city-owned Kotzchmar Organ at Merrill Auditorium plans to ask the City Council to issue bonds for as much as $1.5 million so it can undertake a critical renovation of the century-old instrument.

Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ will ask the council on July 18 to approve the borrowing. The council could vote on the request as early as Aug. 1, said Kathy Grammer, executive director of the group.

Simultaneous with its appeal to the council, the group plans a capital campaign to raise $1.5 million, to provide a total of $3 million for the renovation, Grammer said.

“We’re hoping the city will stand beside us, and we’ll be able to match the bonds. We’re quietly putting things together to raise private funds to complete this effort,” she said.

The city owns the organ, which is built into Merrill Auditorium within City Hall. Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ is responsible for its care and maintenance.

The group will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the organ in 2012. After a centennial celebration in August 2012, the group hopes to begin the organ restoration, which will take about 18 months, Grammer said.

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According to Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ’s website, a new and enlarged wind chest was built when City Hall Auditorium was rebuilt and converted into Merrill Auditorium in the 1990s.

Now, the wind chest is failing and must be removed, Grammer said. She described its condition as “catastrophic. To rebuild it or build a new one, the entire organ has to come out of the hall. It’s a huge project.”

The organ is made up of several components and includes 6,862 pipes. It was given to the city as a gift in 1912, and was the second-largest organ in the world when it was installed.

Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ brought in a panel of experts in 2007 to assess the condition of the organ. Based on the panel’s recommendation, the group is proposing a complete reconstruction of the wind chest, and removal, cleaning, repair and reinstallation of all the pipes.

“They all have to be cleaned and repaired. You have 100-year-old pipes that have some metal fatigue. There’s a lot that needs to be done there, too,” Grammer said.

The bond request is the first step in a community-wide discussion about the organ and its role in the cultural heritage of the city, she said.

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The City Council will have two readings of the bond request before voting on it. The earliest a vote could occur is Aug. 1.

City spokeswoman Nicole Clegg could not be reached Friday to discuss the issue.

Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at:

bkeyes@pressherald.com

 


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