Carlton Smith Pipe Organ Restorations
1997

Originally Wurlitzer Style F with 2 manuals, 8 ranks

Factory date: July 29, 1922

Wurlitzer enlarged the organ to 3/14 in 1926-27

After nearly fifty years of being silent, the organ was purchased in 1977 by Roy Davis of McMinnville, Tenn., for installation in a pizza parlor in Chicago area. Before this could happen, Oscar Wilson purchased the organ and contracted Heaston Pipe Organ Company of Brownsburg, Indiana, to rebuild and reinstall the organ in his Fayette County mansion. In 1989, Oscar Wilson, who was in very poor health, donated the organ to the University of Kentucky, where it was stored until 1997.

The organ was slated for reinstallation in the Kentucky (Lafayette) Theatre. In 1997, KMW-TOP, Inc hired Carlton Smith Pipe Organ Restorations for technical assistance for respecification, expansion and restoration, of the Oscar Wilson (Kentucky Theatre) Wurlitzer theatre organ. Under technical guidance of internationally recognized theatre organist Mr. Lyn Larsen, Musical Contrasts, Inc of Phoenix, AZ, the organ was enlarged to a 3/16 instrument. The organ was expanded with additional ranks and percussion instruments, including 16- Tibia Clausa (12-notes), 16- Salicional (12-notes), 8- Brass Saxophone (61-notes), 8- Orchestral Oboe (61-notes), 8- English Post Horn (61-notes), 16- Oboe Horn (12-notes), 2- Tibia Clausa (12-notes) and 49-note Marimba harp; and Wurlitzer piano; in addition to variety of miscellaneous equipment including swell shades, manual chests, reservoirs, tremulants, winkers, cymbals, solid state relay, computer, blower, software and record/playback unit. [www.kywurlitzer.com]