3/14 Balaban II Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ
Built as a vaudeville and movie house, the Colfax Theater in South Bend, Indiana opened in early 1929.  As "talking pictures" had recently been perfected and were starting to be accepted as the movie medium of the future, the Colfax was one of the first theaters in the United States built with sound equipment that could showcase the new "talkies".  Seating 2069 patrons, it was designed by Christmnan, H.G., Company and was part of the vast Balaban & Katz Movie House empire.  Pictured at the right is opening crowd for the debut of Knute Rockne - All American about the famous Notre Dame football coach who died when his Fokker Trimotor aircraft crashed due to a flaw in its wooden wing design.  The movie starred Ronald Reagan in the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp and was the source of President Reagan's famous references to "Win one for the Gipper".  The South Bend Tribune demolished the theatre in 1994 in order to build new office space even though it made the National Register of Historic Places listings in 1993!
	As part of the Balaban & Katz movie empire the Colfax would have a  theatre pipe organ and it would be a custom model designed by the Wurlitzer Company of North Tonawanda, New York expressly for B&K.  The model designed for the Colfax was a 3-manual, 14-rank instrument with 5 tuned percussions and 15 sound effects.  Shipped from the Wurlitzer factory as Opus 1903 it became the prototype for the five additional Balaban II models that Wurlitzer would eventually produce.  A Wurlitzer factory photo of the console is shown at the left By 1963 the instrument had fallen into disrepair and was no longer needed when it was acquired by Guenther H. Hille of Canfield, Ohio.  Guenther removed the instrument without causing any damage, added an addition on the back of his home for the instrument, restored the instrument as it would have left the Wurlitzer factory, and installed it in his home.  For years the instrument was enjoyed by Guenther and his family and friends.  When Guenther passed away his family wanted to insure that the instrument was not broken up for parts as commonly happens with so many instruments.  The donation to OU specifies that the instrument is to be installed "as is" playing on its original electro-pneumatic relay and combination action.  No additions, deletions, or changes to the instrument's specification will occur.  Restoration is to be equivalent to Wurlitzer factory standards.
Making this instrument even more unique is the fact that it is one of only perhaps a half dozen Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organs, of the 2,234 total produced, that is virtually unchanged from the way it was shipped in 1929.  The instrument had been tenderly cared for by Guenther right down to it still playing on its original factory cotton insulated cabling and relay system.  It is truly a rare musical instrument and one OU looks is dedicated to preserving as a rare example from a bygone era. At right AOI Director Dr. John Schwandt takes the instrument for a test listen in July 2007.  The French Waterfall Console had been partially stripped with refinishing in mind but was never completed.  Donated to the American Organ institute and the University of Oklahoma by the Hille Family the instrument will be known as the G.H. Hille Memorial Wurlitzer.  The American Theatre Organ Society underwrote the expense of the instrument's careful removal by AOI staff and the Organ Clearing House.  The instrument is now in storage at OU alongside the Moller and Mortin instruments.  When Moller Opus 5819 is completed, Wurlitzer Opus 1903 will be installed as a practice and teaching instrument as a historic preservation of one of America's musical assets.
Wurlitzer Balaban 2 Colfax Theater South Bend, Indiana Wurlitzer Opus 1903 Drawings Signed: 6/26/1928 Wind Pressures: 6", 10", 12", 15" Click on the link below to read and view photos of the instrument's removal. HILLE WURLITZER REMOVAL	Main Chamber Vox Humana 8' - 61 pipes Clarinet 8' - 61 pipes Concert Flute 16' - 97 pipes Viol d'Orchestre 8' - 85 pipes Diaphonic Diapason 16' - 85 pipes Viol Celeste 8' - 73 pipes Tuba Horn 16' - 85 pipes Chrysoglott - 49 notes Solo Chamber Kinura 8' - 61 pipes Oboe Horn 8' - 61 pipes Salicional 8' - 73 pipes Tibia Clausa 16' - 97 pipes Orchestral Oboe 8' - 61 pipes Quintadena 8' - 61 pipes Brass Trumpet 8' - 61 pipes Marimba - 49 notes Xylophone - 37 notes Glockenspiel - 37 notes Cathedral Chimes - 25 notes
Click on each of the LINKs below to view the stoplist and original Wurlitzer drawings. (Each will open as an Adobe Acrobat document in a separate window.) Hille Memorial Wurlitzer Stoplist Wurlitzer Solo Chamber Drawing Wurlitzer Main Chamber Drawing Wurlitzer Relay Room Drawing (Drawings from the Smithsonian Institution; courtesy of Carlton Smith.)