The story of the Clemens Center organ started more than 100 years ago

Prior to the recent Common Time concert at the Clemens Center, patrons were treated to a performance on the Marr & Colton theatre organ by resident organist David Peckham. Both the organ and the organist are Elmira treasures. Since 1925, when the Clemens Center was the Keeney Theater, Elmira has been blessed with its own “theatre organ.” Preserving it and maintaining it has been a real challenge.

Upon its installation in 1925, the organ was used regularly to accompany silent films and stage shows, but with the advent of “talkies,” it experienced limited use after 1929. It was not kept in repair and apparently was not used after 1941. The 1946 flood floated the console out of the pit and when it came back to rest on the elevator platform it was upside down. In 1961 a group of local organ enthusiasts (Lauren Peckham, Robert Oppenheim and David Teeter) undertook an organ restoration project. So much had been demolished that another Marr & Colton organ was purchased for parts and by 1963 the organ was in playable condition. Then came Hurricane  Agnes and the Flood of ’72. Nothing would be done on the organ until 1976.

When efforts began to save the theater and create the Clemens Center in 1976, an initiative to restore the organ was undertaken. Lauren, Joyce, David and Kent Peckham, along with David Teeter, tackled the project. With the purchase of a Wurlitzer Theatre Organ console from our Lady of Victory Basilica in Lackawanna, and with the crew working practically right up to the last minute, the organ was played in October 1977 by David Peckham at the official grand opening of the Clemens Center.

In 2007-08, the Clemens Center undertook a major renovation of the organ. David Peckham has said that “the reality is that it stopped being a Marr & Colton organ long ago … it has been evolving for over forty years.” He defines a “modern theatre organ,” a term used in the last 30 years or so that reflects certain changes in design/resources and is distinct from the overall design of the theatre organs built in the teens-twenties. Elmira can be grateful to the Peckham family, beginning with father Lauren and now Dave whose passion and care for the organ can be seen any time he plays or talks about the instrument. In 2016 he was honored by the American Theatre Organ Society as the “Organist of the Year.” In 2019 Dave was awarded the Society’s Technical Award, which recognized his work with theatre organ restoration.

Elmira’s history with theatre organs precedes the arrival of the Marr & Colton at the Keeney. The Marr & Colton Organ Company, though established in Warsaw, N.Y. in 1915, had its beginning when David Marr and John Colton met while working for Robert Hope-Jones in Elmira at the Robert Hope-Jones Organ Company. Marr was like Hope-Jones, born in England, and Colton was an Elmira native.

Thomas Bohlert notes in his “Musical Treasures of the Park Church” that “Robert Hope-Jones was arguably the most controversial figure in the history of organ building, and the organ designed by him and installed in the Park Church in 1906 was perhaps the most pivotal instrument in this century. However, the pipe organ at the turn of the (20th) century was an instrument at the cutting edge of technology and quite central in the public eye. Put in a cultural and technological context, the pipe organ then was parallel to electric guitars, massive loudspeakers and synthesizers today.”

John Daulby Peake, the organist at the Park Church, knew of fellow Englishman Hope-Jones’ fame for his innovative organ building. He wanted him to design and build the new organ at the Park Church, which was to be a memorial to Thomas K. Beecher. “The Beecher Memorial Organ was first played on December 6, 1906 by Peake and soon declared by the “Elmira Daily Advertiser” to be the most complete of American organs.” In 1960 the Hope-Jones organ was replaced. According to Bohlert, “unfortunately, there were serious problems” with the new organ from its installation. That second organ was replaced in 1974.

Robert Hope-Jones came to the United States in 1905.  Born in 1859 he is given “credit for the discovery of the theatre organ.”  He electrified the organ, experimented with tonal design among other radical experiments.  He brought those ideas to America and the building of the Park Church organ led to the creation of Hope-Jones Organ Company in 1907.

Apparently Hope-Jones made a hit in Elmira. With the help of Jervis Langdon, owner of the Chemung Coal Company and the treasurer of the Chamber of Commerce, the Hope-Jones Organ Company was organized and incorporated Jan. 19, 1907. It was capitalized at $225,000. The original stockholders were: J. Sloat Fassett, John B. Stanchfield, Samuel L. Clemens, Charles J. Langdon, John Brand, Norman J. Thompson, Charles E. Racelyea, Jervis Langdon, and Robert Hope-Jones.

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The article goes on to point out that it was in Elmira during the years 1907-1910 that Hope-Jones enjoyed his most productive period as an organ builder for it “was here that the theatre organ was born.” He made a myriad of changes and innovations. The entire organ was operated by one musician from a console that could be played in the orchestra pit or any location desired. The last of his changes were made in the console itself. He devised the famous “horseshoe” type console. The keyboard was inclined, traditional stop knobs were replaced with multi-colored stop keys that permitted much faster manipulation and the entire console was operated by electric power.  This was the “modern theatre organ.”

Robert Hope-Jones built some of his finest organs in Elmira at his factory located at 700 Madison Ave., where he would eventually employ approximately 80 people, including Marr and Colton. However, throughout his life he was plagued by financial problems and they caught up with him in 1910. The company failed and all its holdings and patents were bought up by the Wurlitzer Company of North Tonawanda, N.Y in 1910. Hope-Jones went to work for them. Marr opened the Marr & Colton Organ Company in Warsaw, N.Y. in 1915.

Robert Hope-Jones, an eccentric genius, died in 1914 at age 55. His obituary read, “Robert Hope-Jones noted inventor and builder of pipe organs, at one time head of a large organ factory in this city … committed suicide in a rooming house at 10 George Street, Rochester, some time Saturday night or early Sunday morning … His many inventions had gained for him a great reputation in the musical world and some of the largest and best pipe organs in the country were built and installed under his direction.”

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In March 2021, the Clemens Center was deeded a gift from the Estate of Robert Oppenheim of Erin, N.Y. It is an early 1900s Belgian Frer Decap Herentals Band Organ. An electric, self-playing, orchestration-style band organ consisting of several ranks of organ pipes, and accordion, and a percussion section. Aaron Greene, owner of A. Greene Shop LLC, in Cohocton N.Y. has cleaned and restored the cabinet. It is on display in the second-floor lobby.

Jim Hare is a former history teacher and mayor of the City of Elmira. His column appears monthly in the Star-Gazette.

This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Organs have long been at center of Clemens Center: Here's the history