The Center Theatre Robert Morton

CENTER THEATRE
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
By Henry B. Aldredge

Live theater organ returned to Dur­ham, North Carolina in March 1963 after an absence of 13 years with the restora­tion of the Center Theater’s 2/8 Robert Morton.

An 11 pm. concert late in March cli­maxed almost a year’s hard work by Don Hall (Piedmont ATOE) and Clay Ross, both from nearby Chapel Hill.

The Center Theater, which opened in 1939, obtained the Morton from the National Theater in Greensboro, where it was originally installed in 1922. From 1939 until 1950, the organ solo and community sing were regular intermis­sion features, and during W.W. II, a daily program featuring the instrument was broadcast by a local radio station.

In 1950, the staff organist position at the Center Theater was discontinued, and for the next 13 years, the Morton lay unused, although students from neighboring colleges played and worked on the organ for brief periods of time.

In June, 1962, Don Hall, who is an avid theater organ fan, spotted the con­sole one evening. He asked for and was granted permission to play it. The blower fired up beautifully at the first try, but unfortunately so did most of the pipes. Although amazingly free from major damage, the Morton sounded pretty sad indeed. During the first few weeks of work, Don did a little tuning which improved matters greatly, and traced many ciphers to short circuits. By this time, much of the organ was playable, but wiring and some leathers were badly in need of repair.

In October, 1962, Don was joined by Clay Ross and together they succeeded in putting the organ in top shape.

Their first major project was to trace bad connections and broken wir­ing. Upon completion of this project, many dead notes had been revived and both swell and crescendo pedals worked properly. Tremulants were also in need of adjustment as were the often tem­peramental traps. The original Morton rubber tubing for the combination action had long since rotted away and all of this was replaced. The combination action was extensively releathered until it was restored to proper working con­dition.

By this time it was March. The con­sole was finished in off white and shades rigged for the console lights. (The original shades had long since disappeared) The Morton was now ready for its first public performance in many years.

Local newspapers wrote feature articles on the work of Hall and Ross which were released prior to the opening concert, and a Chapel Hill radio sta­tion ran a special tape of the newly restored instrument. The concert which featured both Hall and Ross at the con­sole was well received by local citizens.

But work on the Morton was not not finished. Through the summer months Hall and Ross tracked leaky swell engines and replaced leather on several of them. Leaks in the console were cured and heavy sound absorbers were constructed about the Tremulant units. As a result, superfluous noise was eliminated.

Later Hall and Ross cured a rather temperamental second touch and suc­ceeded in rerigging the crash cymbal and tympani which for some reason had never been attached when the instrument was moved to the Center Theater.

Don Hall presented a second con­cert in August of 1963 and a pre­-Christmas concert by guest artist Steve Brown, organist from the Tennessee Theater in Knoxville, completed the 1963 season.

During this past summer, work was once again started on the Morton, this time to take the squeaks out of the Kinura. This stop was of such overpowering brilliance that it dominated the entire organ, even when played full. The Kinura was winded so that it received air from the same chest which supplied air to the Tibia. The very deep Tibia Tremulant would modulate the air’ so much that the Kinura would nearly stop func­tioning with the trems on. It was de­cided to reroute the air line to the Kinura chest so that it would get air from the lower pressure and more lightly modulated Vox reservoir.

For this first venture in the craft of metal working, Hall was joined by Jim Sparks, a Durham resident whose photo­graphs accompany this article. The old air line was taken loose and the origi­nal supply hole covered. Then the line was cut, bent, and refitted to the Vox reservoir. After this work was com­pleted the Kinura was retuned to its new wind pressure and now makes a useful contribution to the sound of the Wonder Morton. Hall said, “It’s like having an entire new rank added to the organ.”

During October, Don and the author began the job of properly restoring the finish of the console. The console was washed, sanded and filled in with plastic wood and painted with two coats of flat cream enamel. After this had dried, gold enamel antiquing was ap­plied with an air brush borrowed for the occasion. The accompanying pictures will show the improvement in the ap­pearance of the console. At this time a signal light from the projection booth was added to the console to facilitate exact timing for intermission perform­ances, a la Radio City Music Hall.

The organ is now used mainly for the late night and early Sunday morning pleasure of the Piedmont Chapter mem­bers and their guests. The organ is frequently played for Saturday night in­termissions by Hall, Jane Sparks and the author. A joint concert is planned with the A.G.O. in late April, 1965, with Richard Smith of Baltimore as guest artist.

Robert Morton Organ – 2 manual 8 rank. Originally installed in the National Theatre, Greensboro, N.C. 1922. Moved to Center Theatre, Durham, N.C. 1938.

Source: “THEATRE ORGAN” the journal of the American Association of Theatre Organ Enthusiasts (aka American Theatre Organ Society), Vol 6, No 4 – Winter 1964 – 1965 “Two North Carolina’s Theatre Pipe Organs”, pg 20.

CLICK FOR THE REST OF THE STORY