PSTOS - 45th St. (Paramount, Guild 45th) Theatre, Seattle Washington

45th St. (Paramount, Guild 45th) Theatre - 2/6 Kimball
Seattle, Washington
2115 N. 45th St.
Organ installation timeframes:
1st instrument: 1921-1924
2nd instrument: 1924-1930

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Console of the 1921 Kimball as installed at St. John's Catholic Church

The 45th Street (Paramount) Theatre had two theatre pipe organs:

A 2/6 Kimball with tubular pneumatic action installed in 1921. At this time, the theatre was called "The Paramount" - pre-dating the much larger downtown Paramount by seven years.

A 2/6 Kimball installed in 1924. A $2,000 credit was given for the 1921 instrument as a trade-in.

The 1921 instrument (KPO#6657) was moved in 1924 to the Georgetown Mission Theatre. In 1930-31, it was moved to St. John's Catholic Church in the Ballard/Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle. It is still there although very little of the original instrument is left.

The St. John's instrument was enlarged by Balcom & Vaughan in 1973. According to Jim Stettner, "...several new ranks were added, but some original were retained. The Great 8' Melodia had bored stoppers inserted to become a make-shift Rohr Flute. The Muted Viol was retained as the Dulciana. On the Swell, the Stopped Diapason and Oboe were retained, and the Great 8' Open Diapason became a 4' Principal. The Pedal Bourdon was also retained." The console was also replaced at this time. Disposition of the original 1921 console is unknown.

in 1999, Jim Stettner started another rebuild of the instrument. According to Jim, "the Melodia and Open Diapason were replaced. The Muted Viol was retained, but cut-down, de-bearded and revoiced as a 4' Spitz Principal for the Swell. This was replaced by Frans Bosman [Mozier, Oregon] who performed other tonal work and constructed several offset chests for the project. The Stopped Diapason was replaced by a 16'/8' Bennett set of pipes to provide for a 2nd 16' Pedal register. The original Oboe and Pedal Bourdon were retained. The original Kimball manual chest was given to Carl Dodrill of Mercer Island."

The 1973 Balcom & Vaughan console was replaced with a modified three-manual Aeolian from the Church of the Ascension Episcopal in Magnolia obtained by Clint Meadway. The console was originally built as a two-manual for the Henry K. Rhodes residence in Tacoma in 1923 (Aeolian opus #1518).

During an inspection in December 1999, the Pedal Bourdon was the only recognizable Kimball item left in the chambers.

According to Jim Stettner, the 1921 instrument may have been a 2/7, "...because there were two primaries on the main chest - one controlling 3 Great stops (Open Diapason, Melodia, and Muted Viol) and one controlling 3 Swell stops (Stopped Diapason, Salicional, Oboe)...PLUS the independent 16' Pedal Bourdon. Additionally, the Swell division was later augmented by two stops. The primary channels of the Swell were drilled-into and tubed to an added, 49-note chest upon which was added an 8' (tc) Voix Celeste. The bass of the main chest was tubed directly to the 2nd, elevated, added chest and a 2nd set of 49 tubes went from the Voix Celeste chest to the elevated chest....upon which was added a Vox Humana."

"One other mystery remains. While the name "Paramount Theatre Seattle Wash" was written in the standard Kimball blank ink on the bottom boards of the chest. . .the opus number stencilled onto the toe and rackboards was opus 6613!"