PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COLLECTION OF BOB ALDER
Johnny DeMello plays the organ at Waikiki Theatre in 1955.
A nonprofit organization has dropped its effort to install a historic Waikiki pipe organ at the Palace Theatre in Hilo. Historic organ not
headed for theater
in Hilo after all
By Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.comFaced with problems to renovate the palace, members of Friends of the Palace said they did not have time to bring the organ from the soon-to-be-demolished Waikiki Theatre, according to Cheryl Moore, newly appointed Friends president.
In 2001, Consolidated Amusement Co., owner of the Waikiki Theatre, donated the organ to Palace Theatre. The organ console was brought to the Palace Theatre while the remaining parts -- which could fill a 40-foot-long shipping container -- were left in the Waikiki Theatre.
However, the project came to a halt in midsummer 2001 over arguments about the organ, said Moore.
She said that in early December the organization was informed that the Waikiki Theatre was to be demolished within a few weeks. Money collected for the project was immediately returned to the donors.
The organ was built in 1922 by the Robert-Morton Pipe Organ Co. in California. It has four keyboards with 1,192 pipes. The pipes ranged from the size of a pencil to 16 feet long.
The organ was first located at the Hawaii Theatre, built by the Consolidated Amusement Co. in 1922. It was played during silent movies and later for intermission features.
Fifteen years later, the organ was moved to the Waikiki Theatre, where it was played until 1997.
The Waikiki organ was to be combined with another pipe organ at the Palace Theatre to create a "concert-quality instrument," said Bob Alder, an organist who played the instrument at the Waikiki Theatre from 1980 to 1997.
Friends of the Palace "had a year and a half to remove the organ," he added. "I think Friends of the Palace botched the whole project terribly. They had every opportunity to succeed."
Alder contended the nonprofit organization was not informed of the Waikiki Theatre's demolition date, but given a deadline by Consolidated Theatres to remove the organ.
"The theater is not going to be demolished for some time," said Eileen Mortenson, spokeswoman for Consolidated Theatres.
Members of the Hilo Theatre Organ Society are expressing interest in bringing the organ to Hilo, said Edward Gilman, society president. The society was formed last year and is part of the American Theatre Organ Society.
