Better Pipe Organ Database

M. P. Möller Opus 2935 (1920)

Portage Park Theatre
4050 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL

Note: Not extant. Not playable. (in this location)

Images


Unknown - Front of exterior (Photograph from an archival source: cinematreasures.org, submitted by Jeff Scofield/Jeff Scofield)

Unknown - Interior to rear (Photograph from an archival source: cinematreasures.org, submitted by Jeff Scofield/Jeff Scofield)

Unknown - Front of room (Photograph from an archival source: cinematreasures.org, submitted by Jeff Scofield/Jeff Scofield)

2012-05-21 - Great and Solo Stopkeys (Photograph by Gary Rickert/Database Manager)

2012-05-21 - Orchestral and Pedal Stopkeys (Photograph by Gary Rickert/Database Manager)

2012-05-21 - Console Stop Jambs and Historical Photographs (Photograph by Gary Rickert/Database Manager)

Consoles

Main

Notes

2009-09-24 - Identified through information in <i>List of More than 5200 Moller Pipe Organs</i> (Hagerstown, Maryland. M. P. M&ouml;ller, 1928). -Database Manager

2012-12-18 - Updated through online information from Gary Rickert. -- I maintained this organ from 1966 until 1973- it was replaced with an electronic about 1980. Had what may have been a one-of-a-kind combination action. The thumb pistons were duplicated above the stops for each division. The action was set by selecting the desired registration and then pressing the desired piston above the stops (mechanical connection to the combination action). This was very confusing for the uninitiated because pressing these pistons would reset the pistons. I have very clear pictures of the stop jambs as they now reside as part of a display at Lyons Township High School, where the organ resided from 1929-30 to about 1980 when it was broken up for parts - the chests were destroyed at that time. -Database Manager

2023-10-19 - From cinematreasures.org: Opened December 11, 1920 with Jack Pickford in “Just Out of College”. The Portage Park Theatre (the former name is still inscribed over the Neo-Classical style facade), was the first theatre built specifically for movies (and not vaudeville shows) in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago. The theatre was built for the Ascher Brothers circuit and originally could seat nearly 2,000. By 1929 it was operated by Fox Chicago. The Portage Theatre remained a popular fixture of the neighborhood for decades, becoming a second-run movie house in the 1960’s. In the 1980’s, its auditorium was divided in two by putting a wall down the middle of the auditorium. Oddly, after the box office stopped being used, tickets were then sold in the lobby off a table and folding chairs set up school bake sale style. The Portage Theatre was shuttered in 2001 after operating sporadically for the previous couple years. The theatre was restorated and renovated, and reopened in the spring of 2006 as a single-screen, 1,300-plus seat theatre featuring both silent and sound classic motion pictures and other events, both on-screen and live. It was closed on May 25, 2013, and reopened in June 2014. It was closed in February 2018. -Jeff Scofield

2024-11-29 - Updated through online information from Gary Rickert (October 28, 2024): I "lived with" this organ for many years while it was installed in Lyons Township High School in La Grange, Illinois and I can guarantee you it never had a "Thunder Effect" as installed in the school. While it did retain the "Concert Harp" there never was a Glockenspiel, but rather a Xylophone (look at the engraving). The photos of the "jambs" are of a extant display in the high school. As for the "low wind" Gedeckt, it never was installed and both tablets brought on the same Bourdon. While this was 2935, the regulator in the Great/Orchestral side was penciled 2395 New York City and the pedal relay was built with more stops than the organ required. Alas, it was removed in the late 70's. The pipes found their way into several church organs, the console was discarded by someone in Milwaukee, but I bought the "jambs" from him. This console had something I had never seen before. To set the pistons, you would press the numbered piston above the division's tablets. Someone would come along and press them wondering what they were for, and wipe out your combinations. As of 2021, despite the "mechanical room" with it's giant ventilators having been gutted, the 3 HP Kinetic blower I36, the rectifier and cabling was still in place. -Jim Stettner

Stoplist

Source: Factory documentation 

     Chicago, Illinois
     Portage Park Theatre

     Möller   Op. 2935   1920   3/18
     _______________________________________________

     GREAT                      ORCHESTRAL
 16' Violin Diapason   73    8' Violin Diapason   GT
  8' Open Diapason     73    8' Open Diapason     GT
  8' Viole d'Orchestre 73    8' Quintade          73
  8' Doppel Flute      73    8' Viole d'Orchestre GT
  4' Octave            12    8' Flute Celeste     tc
  4' Zart Flute        SW    4' Flute Harmonic    73
  2' Piccolo           SW    4' Flute Celeste     61
III  Mixture           SW   16' Fagotta           tc
 16' Bass Clarinet  tc SW    8' Orchestral Oboe   73
  8' French Horn       73    8' Clarinet          73
  4' Octave Horn       --       Tremulant
     Super                      Sub
     Cathedral Chimes           Super
                                Concert Harp      37
     SOLO                       Glockenspiel      --
  8' Gross Flute       73
  8' Concert Flute     73       PEDAL
  8' Gemshorn          73   16' Open Diapason  SO 12
  8' Violin Cello      73   16' Sub Bass          32
  8' Echo Salicional   73   16' Gemshorn       SO 12
  4' Flute Ouverte     12   16' Lieblich Gedeckt  **
  4' Gemshorn          12    8' Violoncello       SO
 16' Bass Tuba         tc    8' Flute             SO
  8' Tuba              73       Thunder Effect
  8' Vox Humana        73
     Tremulant              **  Bourdon on soft wind
     Sub
     Super 

     [Received from Jeff Scofield October 19, 2023]

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