Cleveland High School - 3/24 Kimball
Portland, Oregon
3400 S.E. 26th Avenue (at Powell Blvd.)
Organ installation timeframe: 1990 - 2026
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Console of the Cleveland High School Kimball, c.2010
The Cleveland instrument was based on a 3/9 Kimball originally installed in the Columbia Theatre, Longview, Washington. In the 1930's it was moved by Balcom & Vaughan to Benson High School in Portland. In the 1990's it was moved to Cleveland High School.
Unfortunately the school district made the decision to demolish the school and the organ was removed in the Spring-Summer of 2026. A final farwell concert featuring Jonas Nordwall was held on Saturday, March 21, 2026.
Click here to see a March 3, 2026 TV segment featuring Jonas Nordwall with the organ.
Pipe chamber, date unknown
Auditorium
School entrance
Date unknown
From William Hansen posting via the PIPORG-L Internet mailing list March 31, 1997:
"Will Scarboro asks about the 'Kimball' at Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon. Originally the basis of this organ was in the theatre at Longview, Washington. Sandy Balcom moved it to Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland in the 1930s. He installed the modest three manual Kimball intact and added two straight windchests, which were controlled from stops on the second touch row.
The Benson organ was well-used in the 1940s and early 1950s, when I knew it. As a student there, Franklin Butte became very proficient. The organ had only moderate projection into the auditorium, but was a fine sound.
I am told that a remodeling project was the demise of the organ in that location. A few years ago it was moved to Cleveland High School, along with considerable redesigning of the organ."
Cleveland High School console, date unknown
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