Portland, Oregon’s Fox affiliate, KPTV, has just aired a feature piece about the Kimball pipe organ at Cleveland high school, which is being removed due to a project to replace the school building. The new school, unfortunately, will not have room for the organ.
Footage from the Organ Grinder documentary was provided to KPTV to add context to the story.
A “Farewell Concert” at Cleveland High School is scheduled for Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 2pm.
Excerpt:
A theater organ that has been housed in the Cleveland High School auditorium since the early 1990s will soon be removed as the school undergoes a modernization project. Portland Public Schools and the Columbia River Theatre Organ Society are working to find the instrument a permanent new home.
Theater organs were invented more than 100 years ago to accompany silent films, designed to simulate a fuller, more orchestral sound than standard pipe organs. Very few remain in the Pacific Northwest.
The organ at Cleveland High School has a history stretching back decades. It was originally donated to Benson High School as a gift from the graduating class of 1939. When Benson underwent a remodel in 1989, organist Jonas Nordwall arranged for the instrument to be relocated to Cleveland.
Read the full story at KPTV: Historic theater organ at Cleveland High School seeks new home ahead of demolition
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