Just shy of 1 month following the dramatic removal of the Paramount’s 1928 Wurlitzer Balaban 1A theatre organ console, CRATOS and CRBI coordinated another rescue effort.  This time it was the 1928 Rhinestone Barton console from Theatre Cedar Rapids (formerly the Iowa Theatre).

The Barton console was damaged by the floodwaters, but the impact to the organ was not as visible and dramatic as the Paramount’s Wurlitzer.  The Barton console, hit with 4 feet of floodwater, remained standing on the 4-post Barton lift unlike it’s sister at the Paramount which was toppled over and tossed around, subjected to 8.5 feet of water and weakened significantly by the experience.

On Tuesday, July 15, 2008, CRATOS, CRBI, Theatre Cedar Rapids and Coonrod Crane Service staged a full blown rescue effort for the damaged console.   The console needed to come out in order for theatre repairs to continue.  With the stage already partially dismantled, the console was reinforced and secured in preparation for the removal.  Coonrod maneuvered a long-reaching crane through the stage door and lifted the organ into the air.  The volunteers onsite guided the console across the stage to a waiting platform.

With the console safely out of the theatre, it was lifted into the bed of a pickup truck and carefully taken to it’s new temporary home at The History Center.  CRATOS and CRBI are extremely thankful for the hard work of the volunteers and Coonrod.  Special thanks to  Jim White and The History Center for generously providing a space where evaluation and restoration activities can be undertaken, and to Mike Wilson and the Rockwell Retirees group for their encouragement and dedication to seeing the Barton console moved to it’s new home.

The recovery effort was made possible through a generous grant from the National Endowment of the Humanties (NEH).

With the permission of the City of Cedar Rapids, the Wurlitzer console’s remaining parts will be relocated to The History Center to join the Barton.  There the two will stay while fundraising, evaluation, restoration and recovery efforts are undertaken.