The Tower Theatre Organ

ORGAN

A 3D Model of the Wurlitzer 216 Console created from the plans of the Tower Theatre

Click here to explore the 3D model of the organ console in the Tower Theatre.

Wurlitzer is an American piano company most famously known for their pipe organs – The Mighty Wurlitzers. Wurlitzer built organs ranging from 2-manuals to 5-manuals, producing around 2100 pipe organs by 1943.

The organ in the Tower Theatre was a Wurlitzer Style 216 (Opus 1636), a 2-manual, 10-rank organ. The organ consisted of 742 pipes and 90 stops.

  • The Opus of an organ is like a serial number, referring to the specific model of the organ made for the Tower Theatre.
  • 2-manuals referred to the two keyboards present on the console.
  • 10-rank referred to the Wurlitzer having 10 sets of organ pipes for different tones.
  • Each stop corresponds to a control for a specific sound and pitch for a given division

The Wurlitzer also had two divisions, with pipes being divided between the main and solo rooms behind the proscenium of the theatre. The console was placed on an elevator platform that could be brought up from the basement when needed for performances.

Drawing of the console and elevator plan courtesy of the UC Regents and Special Collections Library

The Wurlitzer Style 216 only saw 12 ever produced, with almost all of them installed in Southern California. It was a surprisingly versatile organ for one that only had two manuals.

The specification for the Wurlitzer Style 216 can be found here.

The Wurlitzer was moved from the Tower Theatre to the Los Angeles Theatre for when it opened in 1931. It subsequently disappeared. Theories about it’s disappearance range from being sold for parts to being stolen and still existing.

Something interesting to note with the organ in the Tower Theatre is because a door that does not exist on the plan of the organ rooms currently exists in the back wall of the theatre. Additionally, the plan for the organ mentions installing the organ “thru shutter opening”. This implies that the organ was originally installed before the proscenium, with the proscenium built on top of it. When the organ was moved to the Los Angeles Theatre, a door was added to facilitate the move.

A Wurlitzer Plan of the organ chambers in the Tower Theatre courtesy of the UC Regents and Special Collections Library
The door on the back wall of the Tower Theatre not present in the plan. It’s location corresponds to the passage between the organ rooms in the plan above.

The only functioning Wurlitzer 216 in the Southern California area that is not in private possession is in the California Theatre in San Bernardino. It is occasionally played for silent film programs. While we had an opportunity to visit and create a model of it via photogrammetry, it was unfortunately not feasible due to transportation and time constraints.

The Wurlitzer 216 console from the California Theatre Lobby
Find out how the Organ worked in the Tower Theatre
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