St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church
135 West 31st Street
New York City: Manhattan,
NY
10001 US
Organ ID: 27646
By Steven E. Lawson via the NYC AGO NYC Organ Project: The grand dedication ceremonies of the present church took place on Sunday, July 17, 1892. Archbishop Corrigan blessed the church and consecrated the three altars. Archbishop Winand M. Wigger of Newark, who had grown up across the street from the original church, delivered the sermon. He was also the donor of a large stained glass window dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. As the war years passed, St. Francis Church continued to grow in popularity, and more masses were added to the daily schedule. In the late 1950s plans were made for the renovation of the upper church. The dedication of three new marble altars in May of 1961 marked the end of five years of major construction. New entrances at 31st and 32nd Streets, new outdoor shrines and the air-conditioning of the upper church were accomplished during that time.
On January 23, 1987, the M.P. Möller Co. of Hagerstown, Md., signed a contract to build a new organ for St. Francis of Assisi Church. Möller retained the Reuben Midmer & Son case plus several ranks of pipes from earlier instruments. The four-manual drawknob console is of walnut and has tracker-touch manuals of bone with walnut sharps; the tilting-tablet couplers are of maple. As originally installed, the organ had 57 stops and 88 ranks.
During the final week of July 2009, several days of heavy rain took their toll on both the tower and the organ, flooding the Récit and Pédale, which are recessed into the tower. The parish contracted with Sebastian M. Glück of New York City to replace the destroyed slider chests of the Récit and to restore the expression enclosure and Pédale windchests. At that time, a contract was signed for Mr. Glück to carry out tonal revisions, revoicing, and tonal finishing. The Récit division was completed in the Autumn of 2010, although the rest of the instrument remains unrestored.
Updated through on-line information from Connor Annable.
Identified by Jeff Scofield through information in Möller factory documents.
Church interior to rear gallery and organ case: Photograph by Steven E. Lawson via the NYC AGO Organ Project, submitted by Jeff Scofield. Taken on 2010-09-03
Church interior to front: Photograph by Steven E. Lawson via the NYC AGO Organ Project, submitted by Jeff Scofield. Taken on 2010-09-03
Organ case: Photograph by Steven E. Lawson via the NYC AGO Organ Project, submitted by Jeff Scofield. Taken on 2010-09-03
Console: Photograph by Steven E. Lawson via the NYC AGO Organ Project, submitted by Jeff Scofield. Taken on 2010-09-03
Church exterior: Photograph by Steven E. Lawson via the NYC AGO Organ Project, submitted by Jeff Scofield. Taken on 2010-09-03
