ERD: Your post of May 26, 2006 mentions a George Kansas though their website doesn’t seem to list him now. Who would be the correct person to contact about a possible organ for this theatre?
I will be taking a phone call from Dennis tomorrow, April 7th so please email me at as I couldn’t contact you with no email address on your profile page as happens more times than I care to recall with so many CT members. This Opus 1616 organ saga is like putting together pieces of a puzzle and eventually the pieces will all come together…I hope with the help of D. Unks. BTW, I went on very informative Wurlitzer site that Bob Jensen, who is in Chicago, posted on the Paramount Theatre link and was able to track Opus 1616 from the Paramount to Dennis via a couple of other destinations before it reached its final location in PA. Please title your email to me OPUS 1616.
Bob Jensen: I have contacted D. Unks and will be talking to him via phone on Monday! Am also looking forward to your email about Wurlitzer Opus 1616 history, as you know it!
“The original 4/20 (non Publix) Wurlitzer was removed in the mid 1960s. It was playable when removed.”
Why was this Wurlitzer organ removed when it was playable when removed?? Today it would be such an important part of the theatre and its history if it were still there. And did it come out of the stage floor as some did??
Tom Delay: Do you personally think that the Palace would be interested in installing another organ? If so, I know the whereabouts of an Wurlitzer organ….Opus 1616.
Bob Jenen: Your Feb. 5 2008 post with the Wurlitzer site is interesing in that I tracked the history of Opus 1616 and it seems to have gone from Buffalo to Reading PA to Stowe PA to Erie. Amazing that this site allows you to track a particular organ so I guess Opus 1616 didn’t go directly from Buffalo to Erie, after all!
sam_e: Well, now that’s a thought….I shall look into this! I’ve been to the Palace Theatre in Albany and now that you mention it I do recall that they do NOT have an organ, but whether they could be coaxed into buying and installing one remains to be seen as I don’t know they they would be interested though should be! Before your above post I placed a call to Dennis Unks, former OSI president in Erie PA. I left a message so when I hopefully hear back from him I will mention this organ idea to him.
MVT: Thanks for that explanation about the rear portion and the Main Street section. I would like to think that the original Wurlitzer organ could be placed into another existing theatre, someday though.
Lost Memory: Thanks for you continued help! I truly appreciate it! And I enjoyed reading the Terrace Theater article with photo of Mike, the new owner!
D. Unks: When I type the above post I was not aware that you had been the former OSI president. Great to have you as a member of Cinema Treasures. I hope the current president knows about Cinema Treasures. If he doesn’t, he does now after my email to him telling him why I was inquiring about the Wurlitzer Opus 1616. I hope that Bob Jensen can tell us where the organ photos posted on Feb. 4, 2008 were taken. How and why did OSI come to acquire the organ and did the organ go directly from the Paramount to OSI? Was or is their intent to sell it, as is? I assume they planned to restore it when they purchased it. Do you know the selling price? And do you know Bob Jensen as I find it fascinating that 2 men on this link know so much about one organ that was in Buffalo NY at the Paramount. A theatre that should never have been neglected and then demolished.
D. Unks & Bob Jensen: I have contacted OSI via email and wondered what more you could tell me about Opus 1616? The OSI president has now emailed me so that is a start! I am not really into organs so don’t know one from another other than I can appreciate their sound and the folks who sit at their consoles. Please email me @ as I hope to visit OSI this summer.
http://cinematreasures.org/news/18846_0_1_0_C/
Cannonball: Please contact the names and numbers that are provided on the “news” CT section.
Rest in peace, Mr. Charlton Heston. I didn’t agree with the NRA business either, but do have friends who are members.
View link
ERD: Your post of May 26, 2006 mentions a George Kansas though their website doesn’t seem to list him now. Who would be the correct person to contact about a possible organ for this theatre?
LOUB: Your June 26, 2007 mentioned the movie, Ben Hur so I had to pause today and remember a movie legend, Charleton Heston. RIP Mr. Heston.
I will be taking a phone call from Dennis tomorrow, April 7th so please email me at as I couldn’t contact you with no email address on your profile page as happens more times than I care to recall with so many CT members. This Opus 1616 organ saga is like putting together pieces of a puzzle and eventually the pieces will all come together…I hope with the help of D. Unks. BTW, I went on very informative Wurlitzer site that Bob Jensen, who is in Chicago, posted on the Paramount Theatre link and was able to track Opus 1616 from the Paramount to Dennis via a couple of other destinations before it reached its final location in PA. Please title your email to me OPUS 1616.
Bob Jensen: I have contacted D. Unks and will be talking to him via phone on Monday! Am also looking forward to your email about Wurlitzer Opus 1616 history, as you know it!
“The original 4/20 (non Publix) Wurlitzer was removed in the mid 1960s. It was playable when removed.”
Why was this Wurlitzer organ removed when it was playable when removed?? Today it would be such an important part of the theatre and its history if it were still there. And did it come out of the stage floor as some did??
A neat old art deco theatre with a great marquee and facade that needs to be purchased and become part of the community, again!
Tom Delay: Do you personally think that the Palace would be interested in installing another organ? If so, I know the whereabouts of an Wurlitzer organ….Opus 1616.
Bob Jenen: Your Feb. 5 2008 post with the Wurlitzer site is interesing in that I tracked the history of Opus 1616 and it seems to have gone from Buffalo to Reading PA to Stowe PA to Erie. Amazing that this site allows you to track a particular organ so I guess Opus 1616 didn’t go directly from Buffalo to Erie, after all!
Can anyone provide any organ history connected to this theatre? At the present time it does not have an organ.
sam_e: Well, now that’s a thought….I shall look into this! I’ve been to the Palace Theatre in Albany and now that you mention it I do recall that they do NOT have an organ, but whether they could be coaxed into buying and installing one remains to be seen as I don’t know they they would be interested though should be! Before your above post I placed a call to Dennis Unks, former OSI president in Erie PA. I left a message so when I hopefully hear back from him I will mention this organ idea to him.
MVT: Thanks for that explanation about the rear portion and the Main Street section. I would like to think that the original Wurlitzer organ could be placed into another existing theatre, someday though.
longislandmovies: THANKS SO VERY MUCH! I will pass along this information to the appropriate parties involved in a possible sale.
Lost Memory: Thanks for you continued help! I truly appreciate it! And I enjoyed reading the Terrace Theater article with photo of Mike, the new owner!
longislandmovies: If you have interest in another theater such as the Winter Garden in Jamestown, let me know @
The site below features the Winter Garden and how it looked in the 50’s.
View link
DramaQueen: The current person in charge of operations is a Mr. Conte.
A OSI website message from the current OSI president, Bob Rusczyk is below:
View link
D. Unks: When I type the above post I was not aware that you had been the former OSI president. Great to have you as a member of Cinema Treasures. I hope the current president knows about Cinema Treasures. If he doesn’t, he does now after my email to him telling him why I was inquiring about the Wurlitzer Opus 1616. I hope that Bob Jensen can tell us where the organ photos posted on Feb. 4, 2008 were taken. How and why did OSI come to acquire the organ and did the organ go directly from the Paramount to OSI? Was or is their intent to sell it, as is? I assume they planned to restore it when they purchased it. Do you know the selling price? And do you know Bob Jensen as I find it fascinating that 2 men on this link know so much about one organ that was in Buffalo NY at the Paramount. A theatre that should never have been neglected and then demolished.
D. Unks & Bob Jensen: I have contacted OSI via email and wondered what more you could tell me about Opus 1616? The OSI president has now emailed me so that is a start! I am not really into organs so don’t know one from another other than I can appreciate their sound and the folks who sit at their consoles. Please email me @ as I hope to visit OSI this summer.
Always nice to see another photo of the fabulous Fox! Thanks.
was most revealing of what could have happened if the FQ had been in that TN city! (had to finish the above sentence)
Danny52: Your comment about thanking God the French Quarter wasn’t in Nashville!