Atlantic City Weekly

Many of you have never seen Atlantic City's most priceless indoor possession. You may have visited the former Atlantic City Convention Hall, now called Boardwalk Hall, and paid little attention to the enclosed area on the right side of the stage. If you asked a Boardwalk Hall employee what it is, most of them would tell you that it's an area for an organ. They may neglect, however, to tell you that it holds the seat and keyboards to the Midmer-Losh organ, the largest organ in the world.

As you walk on the second and third levels of Boardwalk Hall, and look at the walls, you may have noticed that there are open metal screens lining almost half of them. If you asked most employees what lies behind the screens, hopefully, they would tell you that the area houses many of the wind-pipes for the organ. Additional wind-pipes can be found high above the stage on both sides.

It is worth reiterating that it is the biggest organ in the world and that it is Atlantic City's most priceless indoor possession.

The organ was designed by former Atlantic County State Senator Emerson Richards and built by Midmer-Losh. Why bring this to your attention now? It is with great pleasure that I inform you that the Historic Organ Restoration Committee Inc. (HORC), under the auspices of the New Jersey State Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA), recently announced the hiring of Carl Loeser as the first Lillian Levy Curatorial Chair of the Boardwalk Hall pipe organs. Loeser brings a variety of expertise to the position and has worked in the pipe organ field for 30 years.

The late Lillian Levy, a Ventnor resident, was a past three-time chairperson of the New Jersey State Council of the Arts. Loeser is looking forward to being directly involved with the historic Kimball organ in the Adrian Phillips Ballroom and the giant Midmer-Losh organ in the auditorium. The hiring of Loeser fills a void that has left the organs largely unattended since 1998, when the last curator, Dennis McGurk, retired. It sends a loud signal that the HORC is ready to begin restoration of these two organs. With $1.2 million provided by the NJSEA in place, work has already begun in Boardwalk Hall's pipe chambers on new lighting and a sophisticated fire suppression system. However, additional funds will be needed to complete the Herculean task of cleaning over 33,000 pipes and restoring water-damaged mechanisms.

The appointment of the curator and the beginning of the restoration are important steps in validating the Midmer-Losh pipe organ being the recipient of the prestigious Save America Treasure Award of $100,000. Why should we be so concerned about a pipe organ? Here are comments made by Pope Benedict XVI when he blessed the new pipe organ at the Alte Kapelle, in Regensburg, Germany in 2006.

"The organ has always been considered, and rightly so, the king of musical instruments, because it takes up all the sounds of creation ... and gives resonance to the fullness of human sentiments, from joy to sadness, from praise to lamentation. By transcending the merely human sphere, as all music of quality does, it evokes the divine. The organ's great range of timbre, from piano through to a thundering fortissimo, makes it an instrument superior to all others. It is capable of echoing and expressing all the experiences of human life. The manifold possibilities of the organ in some way remind us of the immensity of and the magnificence of God."

In 1921, George Losh signed a contract to build an organ, that was designed by Richards, in the new Atlantic City High School, on Albany Avenue, between Atlantic And Ventnor avenues, now a parking lot. In 1920, Losh purchased the organ building firm of Midmer & Son. He changed the name to Midmer-Losh in 1924.

In 1961, I took Earl Grant, the noted jazz organist, who was appearing at Luigi's Gondola Room, to Convention Hall and received permission to allow him to play the Midmer-Losh organ. He couldn't believe the sounds and the quality of its tone. As he continued to play, I saw tears running down his cheeks. When I asked him why he was crying, he replied, "This is the ultimate experience an organist can have, playing this unbelievable musical instrument."

There are millions of dollars needed to restore these highly valued instruments. A plan is being devised to raise the necessary funds to restore the most priceless indoor possession of Atlantic City and its businesses, residents and visitors. If Pope Benedict XVI spoke so highly about a church organ, imagine what he would say upon hearing the world's largest and most magnificent musical instrument in the world. When the Midmer-Losh organ is restored to all of its glory, the first person to be invited to its initial concert should be Pope Benedict XVI.

It's time to come together and contribute the necessary funds to restore our most priceless possession. Please note that most of the information in the column has come from the Grand Ophicleide, the journal of the Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ Society Inc., founded in 1997 and dedicated to the use, preservation and restoration of the organs in Boardwalk Hall. Visit the organization's Web site at www.acchos.org.

Pinky's Corner airs Monday through Friday from 4 to 6pm on News Talk WOND-AM 1400. His TV show, WMGM Presents Pinky, airs Saturday at 7:30pm on TV40. Pinky's e-mail address is: pinky@atlanticcityweekly.com.