The two consoles with each of the four chamber tuning keyboards in the foreground pose together in the Philadelphia Municipal Auditorium before being placed in storage for two years by the Organ Clearing House. Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, that is a mini-van inside Philadelphia Municipal Auditorium parked behind the Concert Console. There aren't too many public auditoriums remaining with "drive-thru" access!
In October 2006 Möller Opus 5819 was packed up in four 53' long trailers and relocated to a warehouse at the University of Oklahoma. Pictured here are the two consoles with the Möller Artiste Roll Player.
In early 2007 the two consoles had taken up residence in the newly finished AOI Pipe Organ Shop. While they were the center of attraction for visitors to the shop, they occupied nearly 100 square feet of valuable floor space. They were also in jeopardy of being damaged with shop activities. A suggestion by Robert Wilhelm provided a possible solution ~ why not put them on display in the outer lobby of Sharp Concert Hall? Here they could be seen by the thousands of annual visitors to programs in Sharp Concert Hall. Their presence, with photos and placards, would help spread the word about AOI and Möller Opus 5819's eventual installation.
After much planning and a couple of rained out moving days, on March 21, 2008 the weather cooperated. Using the shop gantry crane the consoles had been lifted earlier in the month from their shipping pallets and secured to 8-wheeled custom dollies. United Van Lines - Armstrong Relocation was contracted to support the move. United was able to support the move with an air-ride moving van wide enough to swallow the two consoles side-ways, but the trailer would include a lift gate equally as wide and of sufficient lifting capacity to raise the 1,200 pound Theatre Console. Seen above, the Concert Console is carefully moved down a shop ramp.
Seen here the Theatre Console is on its way to the ramp and the moving van. The two green straps attach to the shop gantry crane chain falls and are used to lift the console. Panels at the side, back, and top of the console have been removed and carefully packed in a storage tray for transport.
Both consoles are packed solid with the mechanical combination action system. When the Theatre Console was lifted on the shop gantry crane a scale indicated a total weight of 1,200 pounds! This top view of the Theatre Console shows the Möller capture combination action mechanism behind the five rows of stop tablets.
Equally stuffed with combination action mechanism is the Concert Console. The Concert Console is slightly smaller than the Theatre Console however it's weight is just over 1,000 pounds.
Rolling down the loading dock ramp guided by Dr. John Schwandt (left) and OU Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering student Branden Reece is a storage tray of console panels and parts that were removed to lighten both consoles for the move. Visible on top of the storage tray is the top for the Theatre Console.
The Theatre Console was the first loaded on the moving van. It was wrapped in moving pads, rolled onto the aluminum hydraulic ramp, raised to the bed level of the trailer, and then pushed inside and secured.
Next to be loaded on the truck was the Concert Console followed by the pedalboards, bench, Howard Seat, and the tray of console panels and parts. The last items loaded were the disassembled shop gantry crane, stepladders, rigging equipment, tools, and the display posters, stands, and ropes.
One of the logistics problems facing the move was how to best transfer the consoles into Sharp Concert Hall from a moving truck. Unloading at the front of Catlett Music Center might have been the shortest distance but bollards obstructed the move. The Catlett loading dock is lower than standard height truck docks and thus a truck with a special liftgate or extra wide ramps would be required. The United truck met all the requirements with its liftgate and after the removal of door center posts the move was easy to accomplish. With the gantry crane and chain falls, several ladders, both console's pedalboards, and support materials unloaded and moved to Gothic Hall until needed, the Concert Console was rolled from the moving van, lowered to the loading dock, and wheeled into Gothic Hall. Seen here the Concert Console moves through the loading dock doors.
With the Theatre Console unloaded and sitting in Gothic Hall (foreground), the inner lobby area of Sharp Concert Hall was prepared for rolling each console in on its dolly and then lifting the console off the dolly using the shop gantry crane. With the lobby prepared the Concert Console was moved into Sharp Concert Hall.
The crew assembled the Shop gantry crane in the lobby of Sharp Concert Hall, attached the console lifting slings (green) to the chain hoists, and raised the console in the air so that the moving dolly could be removed (lower right corner). A pair of 2"x12" planks were placed under the console and the console lowered onto the planks. As the consoles would sit in the vestibule the gantry crane couldn't be used to set the consoles in their final display positions. Seen here, the Theatre Console briefly hangs in the air after the dolly has been removed. The lumber the console will be slid into position on is being placed under and behind the console. The bottom of each console is a solid 1" thick panel however these panels are not structural and thus the consoles must to be lifted by their ends. Adding further complication is that the floor is carpeted meaning sliding the wooden bottomed, 1,200 pound console on the carpet is all but impossible. The solution was to place a pair of wooden runners under the ends of the console that would support it off the carpet. With a little lifting each console could be slid into position. Each runner was in two sections so once in place the front section of runner was removed. The console was left resting on the rear sections of the runners to distribute the weight more evenly.
While the crew was able to make use of gantry cranes and chain falls, hydraulic lift gates, and 8-wheel moving dollies, to get each console to the lobby of Sharp Concert Hall, the last six feet would have to be accomplished with human muscle. Using Johnson Bars and lifting the console using the slings, others simply pushed on the console until it was slid along the 2"x12" runners and into position.
The Concert Console was unloaded from its moving dolly in similar fashion using the gantry crane and then slid back on its own set of runners. With the consoles in their final positions part of the crew disassembled the gantry crane and packed up the moving van with tools and equipment used during the move. The rest of the crew installed the pedalboards, bench and Howard Seat, wiped down both consoles, and set up the display information. A set of OU Crimson Red velour ropes on stands was then placed around each console.
~ The Finished Concert Console Display ~
Anyone entering the left set of Sharp Concert Hall entry doors sees the Concert Console display straight ahead!
~ The Theatre Console Display ~
Anyone entering the left set of Sharp Concert Hall entry doors sees the Theatre Console display straight ahead!
The Theatre Console Display ~ click on a display item to see what is presented in PDF format.
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The Concert Console Display ~ click on a display item to see what is presented in PDF format.
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