Skinner Organ Co.
Opus 705, 1928

Jeff Scofield on July 16th, 2024:
From detroiturbex.com: In 1913 Christ Church established a mission on the east side of the city, building a small frame chapel on Manistique near Jefferson Avenue. The church was named for a Celtic missionary, Columba, the patron saint of the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. Dr. William Maxon, rector of Christ Church had visited the monastery of St. Columba off the coast of Scotland in 1890 and came away so impressed that he decided to name a church after the saint if he ever had the chance. Fifty people attended the first service of St. Columba Mission, which grew as the neighborhood around it flourished. St. Columba was elevated to a parish in 1917. A parish house on Jefferson, built in 1922 further cemented the role of the church in the surrounding community by offering a gymnasium, meeting hall, and dining facilities. Having outgrown the small chapel, the congregation began raising funds for a larger church starting in 1926. On October 16th, 1927, the cornerstone for the present-day sanctuary was laid. The new church building was dedicated on December 2nd, 1928, the 15th anniversary of the churches founding. The gothic style building, featuring Plymouth granite and Bedford limestone was designed by Lancelot Sukert and cost $160,000. Like many other churches in Detroit, St. Columba experienced a decline in membership and its congregation moved to the suburbs. By 2000 the neighborhood had one of the highest percentages of abandoned properties in the city, leading to what has been described as an “urban prairie” of vacant, overgrown lots. Attempts by the church to buy the vacant land to create a green space ran headlong into the messy bureaucracy of local government. Ultimately the Episcopal diocese decided to close St. Columba in 2003. For several years the church was used by Detroit Faith Center but has been vacant since at least 2015.

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Database Manager on August 15th, 2012:
Updated through online information from John Muller. -- St. Michael's Episcopal Church of Grosse Pointe Woods Michigan has contracted with Muller Pipe Organ Company of Croton Ohio for the complete restoration of the organ over the course of the next three years, with installation scheduled approximately summer 2015. A replica console will be provided due to water damage to the console; also,it is not in original condition as it was previously modified with solid state combination action and replacement drawknobs, tilting tablets, etc.

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Database Manager on December 22nd, 2009:
Updated through online information from Kevin O'Connor. -- Removed/Rescued from St. Columba's and awaiting installation in St. Michael's.

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Database Manager on September 25th, 2009:
Updated through online information from Ray Ahrens.

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Database Manager on September 25th, 2008:
Updated through information from Laurence Libin: -- E. M. Skinner op. 705 in St. Columba Episcopal, Detroit, has been offered to St. Michael's Episcopal in Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., due to closure of St. Columba in 2004. St. Michael's is planning a capital campaign to fund the relocation. The organ is reportedly in very good shape and basically untouched except for some water damage to the console.

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Database Manager on May 8th, 2006:
Identified through information adapted from *E. M. Skinner/Aeolian-Skinner Opus List*, by Sand Lawn and Allen Kinzey (Organ Historical Society, 1997), and included here through the kind permission of Sand Lawn: Extant, unaltered.