Coronado Theatre organ is a gem within a gem

ROCKFORD - When Paul Wilber was 9 or 10 years old, he and fellow choir members of his Episcopal church were rewarded for good work with trips to Charlie Chaplin's silent movies. "It was fun," said Wilber, who said he couldn't wait to hear the accompanying organ making "ooga" horn noises, along with the bells and whistles timed to match the film's action. Today, when Wilber listens to the Grande Barton Organ at the Coronado Theatre in downtown Rockford, it brings back a lot of those memories. Wilber, who is in his late 70s, and other members of the Land of Lincoln Theatre Organ Society want others to appreciate the music created by theater organs as much as they do. One way the group promotes the music is by putting on concerts. Another way is showing off the Coronado for groups, especially schoolchildren and out-of-town bus tours. Since September, the organ society has given 28 tours. "It's wonderful to be able to keep alive an art form," said Bob Bates, who often plays the organ, made in the 1920s especially for the Coronado. Bates is also organist for the Second Congregational Church in Rockford and president of LOLTOS. The society is a not-for-profit organization of some 200 members formed in 1973. Pro-ceeds from its concerts, tours and personal contributions are used to repair and refurbish the organ. The Grande Barton at the Coronado is the only one of six theater organs once installed in Rockford that still remains in its original location. It was built by the Barton Organ Co. in Oshkosh, Wis., and was restored about four years ago. It is mounted on a hydraulic lift which enables it to rise from the theater basement to the orchestra pit, and then to stage level. Images of fire-breathing dragons decorate the console, giving it a bit of the look of a circus calliope. The console has four manual keyboards, three semicircular rows of stop buttons, a pedal keyboard and a row of toe studs. Sounds bellow from 1,229 wooden and metal pipes hidden away in two rooms on either side of the stage. The organ has 244 keys that you play with your hands and 32 pedal keys. The Grande Barton is irreplaceable today because no one makes theater organs anymore. Bates estimates its value at from $150,000 to $200,000. Bates learned to play the theater organ when he was in high school in Colorado Springs, Colo. He mostly likes to play Rodgers and Hammerstein tunes on the organ himself, but he welcomes a more improvisational style. That's what the old-time theater organists used when they matched organ music and sound effects to what was transpiring on screen. When the organ society gives tours, it shows Buster Keaton silent movies - often scenes where the police are chasing the star. The bells, whistles and ooga horn sounds aren't played on the Grande Barton itself, though. They are recorded and dubbed onto the movie film. It's simply too expensive to hire an organist for every tour.