After three years of silence, the Opus 1531 pipe organ at the former Sacred Heart Church in Lawrence will play again — but it will be 36 miles away.
Craftsmen at the Andover Organ Company of Methuen spent five months restoring the 1936 Casavant pipe organ, which was in good condition despite having some water damage. It was silenced when the church closed in May 2005 as part of a church consolidation plan by the Boston Archdiocese.
This morning, the 18,000 pounds of pipe, wind chest, 16-foot-tall pedal pipes and console are being delivered to the organ's new home at St. John the Evangelist Church in Wellesley Hills.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime event," said Laurence Carson, organist at St. John. "You rarely see it in pieces, and it's not every day that you see it being built."
After the 11 a.m. Mass there today, 50 volunteers will help unload the thousands of pine and wood pieces from a 50-foot tractor-trailer owned by Andover Organ company and bring them into the church. Other parishioners will snap pictures and record the event, while others will be like cheerleaders.
Once all the organ pieces are in the church, organ company staff members will assemble it.
"We're very pleased to give it a new lease on life," said Matthew Bellocchio, project team manager. "It's very thrilling to hear the organ play as the cantor leads the congregation in song."
The organ from Sacred Heart had been in storage at the organ company for two years.
During the restoration process, the organ's console was stripped and refinished, the reservoirs were re-leathered and restored and the pedals were polished to a shiny silver. The rack boards used to hold the pipes upright were wiped down. The board where the controls and console, or keyboard, are located, is now controlled by a computer, not electricity, as before.
"(The organ) served three generations in Lawrence, and we know it will last a long, long time," Bellocchio said. "It shows that the best is worthy of God."
Finding a pipe organ for St. John has been a long process for Carson, who is also the staff accompanist at Masconomet High School in Boxford.
His search began 12 years ago, and during this period he looked at 10 instruments throughout houses of worship in Massachusetts. He heard about the organ at the former Sacred Heart Church from Patricia Romeo, music director at St. Patrick Church in Lawrence.
Romeo had played the organ on several occasions.
"I was afraid that it would not be heard again in a worship setting and it would not find a new home," she said.
Shortly after Sacred Heart closed, she went into the building to pick up music books and could not resist playing the organ in the empty church.
"It was rather moving to play it in the empty church," Romeo said. "I felt so many generations worshiped and prayed and used this instrument for the glory of God."
Carson came to the city and played the organ. He was in awe.
"It was more the fundamentals than the esoteric about it. 'Was it going to fit in our space; was it going to work for us?" It's a great relief to finally find one because it's going to add a whole dimension to the music life in the church," Carson said.
Romeo was delighted when St. John the Evangelist Church received the musical instrument.
"I was absolutely elated that it would go to such a lovely home," she said. "It would have the love and support a fine musical instrument like this needs." So was Carson.
"We're so happy to have it," Carson said. "It's great that the organ can be rescued and we can assure the people in Lawrence that we will lovingly take care of it."
