Marenghi

Marenghi Ideal Orchestre

This Marenghi Dance organ was built by the Paris firm of Ch. Marenghi & Cie. in about 1902. It operated in France or Holland for a short time before it was sold to a Belgian community in Mishawaka, Indiana. It was then sold to a Mr. Charles Crombez of Detroit, Michigan and was installed in his Dance Hall around 1925-28. It resided there until it went into storage sometime in the 1950s and suffered damage caused by a fire at which time the original facade was destroyed as were the original 6 Trombone pipes. From the storage facilities it went to a Mr. DeClerk in South Bend, Indiana where it was installed in his basement. In 1962, it was purchased by its current order and installed with a new facade on a trailer. After several years, was sold to a person in Michigan who completely disassembled the entire organ and stored it for 34 years in his large garage building.

About 2004, the current owner purchased the organ again. After years of storage, it was necessary for a major rebuild. New wind chests were fabricated by the firm Organ Supply Industries. A new facade, based on an original Marenghi design, was made by Carousel Magic of Mansfield, Ohio. The restored organ features all the original 350+ organ pipes with the exception of the six duplicated Trombone pipes. The tonal make up of the organ includes 5 sets of reed pipes which is extremely unusual. There are approximately 150 complete books of music with the organ music library. Physical size is: 16'-0" x 10'-9" x 3’-2" and weight is about 3500 lbs.