{"id":150,"date":"2011-11-09T00:48:34","date_gmt":"2011-11-09T05:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.juliandunn.net\/?p=150"},"modified":"2011-11-09T00:48:34","modified_gmt":"2011-11-09T05:48:34","slug":"pulling-out-all-the-stops-to-reinstall-our-lady-of-refuges-historic-pipe-organ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/articles.juliandunn.net\/?p=150","title":{"rendered":"“Pulling out all the stops” to reinstall Our Lady of Refuge’s historic pipe organ"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our Lady of Refuge Church<\/a> in Flatbush, Brooklyn is “pulling out all the stops” to restore its historic pipe organ.<\/p>\n

The organ’s demise and resurrection mirrors demographic changes in the parish since the church was built in what was then a well-to-do Brooklyn neighborhood.\u00a0Father Michael Perry says that the church’s construction costs, totalling $750,000 (about $13 million in today’s dollars) were paid for in cash. That was in 1933, in the midst of the Depression.<\/p>\n

“If you look at the houses around here, even the apartment houses, they\u2019re high ceilings, big apartments, I mean it was a pretty wealthy neighborhood,” he said.<\/p>\n

The church is holding an organ recital<\/a> on November 18 in a bid to raise the last $60,000 needed to finish refurbishment and reinstallation of the 1933 Kilgen Pipe organ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In this slideshow, Father Perry talks about why he and Joe Vitacco<\/a>, chair of the organ committee, have embarked on a project to bring organ music to the church’s mostly Caribbean and West Indian congregation.<\/p>\n