4 Manuals / 53 Ranks / 3684 Pipes

GREAT (Man.2)  (10” w.p.)
1    Open Diapason 16’ (leathered, 13-24 wood, 1-12 missing)
2    Bourdon 16’  (wood)
3    1st. Open Diapason 8’ (from # 1)
4    2nd. Open Diapason 8’ (1-12 wood)
5    Geigen Principal 8’ (1-12 wood)
6    Gross Flute 8’  (wood)
7    Gamba 8’ (1-12 wood)
8    Clarabella 8’ (wood)
9    Flute Celeste 8’ (tenor C, wood)
10    Gedeckt 8’ (from #2)
11    Gemshorn 8’ (changed 1932, was Doppel Flute)
12    Octave 4’ (from #4)
13    Harmonic Flute 4’
14    Flute d’Amour 4’ (from#6 )
15    Gemshorn 4’ (from#11)
16    Harmonic Piccolo 2’ (from#13)
17    Mixture 3rks. (1rk,2-2/3, from#7and#17)
18    Trumpet 16’ (1-12 missing)
19    Trumpet 8’ (from #18)
20    Tuba Profunda 16’ (from Solo #65)
21    Harmonic Tuba 8’ (from Solo #66)
22    Clarion 4’ (from Solo #67)

ECHO (Man.2)  (10” w.p.)
23    Open Diapason 8’ (1-12 wood)
24    Gross Flute 8’ (wood)
25    Gamba 8’ (1-12 wood)
26    Gamba Celeste 8’ (tenor c)
27    Melodia 8’ (wood)
28    Gemshorn 8’  (1-12 wood)
29    Octave 4’    from #23
30    Gambette 4’ (from #25)
31    Flute 4’ (from #27)
32    Tuba (harmonic from tenor c)
33    Tremulant
34    Chimes (21 notes AA-f)

SWELL (Man.3)  (10” w.p.)
35    Contra Viole 16’  (1-12 wood)
36    Gedeckt 16’ (wood)
37    Diapason Phonon 8’ (leathered,1-12 wood)
38    Open Diapason 8’ (1-12 wood)
39    Viole d’Gamba 8’
40    Flute Traverso 8’ (wood)
41    Viola 8’  (from #35)
42    Stopped Diapason 8’ (from #36)
43    Viole d’Orchestre 8’
44    Viole Celeste 8’ (tenor c)
45    Spitz Flute 8’ (1-12 wood)
46    Salicional 8’
47    Octave 4’ (from #38)
48    Wald Flute 4’ (wood)
49    Flute 4’ (from #40)
50    Salicet 4’  (from #46)
51    Flageolet 2’ (from #48)
52    Dolce Cornet 3rks. (1rk.,2-2/3’, from #43 and #52)
53    Contra Fagotto 16’
54    Cornopean 8’
55    Fagotto 8’  (from #53)
56    Vox Humana 8’
57    Clarion 4’  (from #54)
58    Tremulant

SOLO (Man.4)    (10”w.p.)
59    Stentorphone 8’ (leathered, 1-12 wood)
60    Philomela 8’ (25-49 missing, wood)
61    Cello 8’
62    Vibrant String 8’
63    Flute 4’  (from #60)
64    Cor Anglais 8’
65    Tuba Profunda 16’ (25”w.p., 1-36 wood resonators, harmonic at #43, double harmonic at #54)
66    Harmonic Tuba 8’ (from #65)
67    Clarion 4’ (from #65)
68    Tremulant

CHOIR (Man.1)   (10” w.p.)
69    Quintaten 16’  (1-24 wood)
70    Open Diapason 8’ (1-12 wood)
71    Geigan Principal 8’ (sic., 1-12 wood)
72    Concert Flute 8’ (harmonic, wood)
73    Gemshorn 8’  (1-12 wood)
74    Quintadena 8’ (from #69)
75    Dulciana 8’   (1-12 wood)
76    Octave 4’  (from #71)
77    Hohl Flute 4’ (wood)
78    Flute 4’ (from #72)
79    Fugara 4’ (from #79)
80    Piccolo 2’  (from #77)
81    French Horn 8’
82    Orchestral Oboe 8’   
83    Clarinet 8’ (belled)
84    Tremulant
85    Harp (stopped wood resonators, 61n.)

PEDAL  (10”w.p.)
86    Double Open Diapason 32’ (1-5 25”, 1-7 resultant, from GGGG, wood)
87    Contra Bourdon 32’ (1-7 resultant, from GGGG, wood)
88    Open Diapason 16’ (from #86)
89    Violone 16’ (from Great #5)
90    Bourdon 16’ (from #87)
91    Contra Viole 16’ (from Swell #35)
92    Octave Bass 8’ (from #86)
93    Cello 8’ (from Solo #61 and 62)
94    Flute 8’ (from #87)
95    Contra Bombarde 32’ (from Solo #65)
96    Tuba Profunda 16’ (from Solo #65)
97    Contra Fagotto 16’ (from Swell #53)
98    Harmonic Tuba 8’ (from Solo #65)
99    Clarion 4’ (from Solo #65)
100    Echo Bourdon 16’ (wood)
101    Echo Flute 8’ (from #100)

COUPLERS

Pedal Octaves
Great to Pedal
Great to Pedal 4’
Swell to Pedal
Swell to Pedal 4’Choir to Pedal
Choir to Pedal 4’
Solo to Pedal
Solo to Pedal 4’
Great 4’
Swell to Great
Swell to Great 4’
Swell to Great 16’
Choir to Great
Choir to Great 4’
Choir to Great 16’
Solo to Great
Swell 4’
Swell 16’
Choir to Swell
Choir to Swell 4’
Choir to Swell 16’
Solo to Swell
Choir 4’
Choir 16’
Swell to Choir
Swell to Choir 4’
Swell to Choir 16’
Solo 4’
Solo 16’
Swell to Solo
Swell to Solo 4’
Swell to Solo 16’

COMBINATION ACTION
Great and Echo 1-8
Swell 1-8
Choir 1-8
Solo 1-8
Pedal 1-8
Full Organ 1-6
Setter

CHEEK BUTTONS
Unison Off/On for Swell, Choir, Solo
Stage Shades On/Both/Off
Great On/Both/Echo On

BALLANCED PEDALS
Great and Choir
Swell
Solo
Echo
Crescendo

TOE LEVERS
Pedal pistons 1-8 (duplicate)
Full organ pistons 1-6 (duplicate)
Setter (duplicate)
Great to Pedal Reversible
Sforzondo Reversible
Indicator lamps for;
Voltage (w/push button to activate)
Crescendo (5 lamps)
Sforzondo
Voltmeter

Left: Solo and Swell (10 hp 2 stage, Kinetic, single phase)
Right: Great and Choir (7-1/2hp Kinetic, single phase)
Echo: (3hp Kinetic, single phase)

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Video by Jeff Lyons of Garland Mullen playing the Coliseum Organ, and of Jeff interviewing Garland, in 1984 
[YouTube video accessed in March of 2024]

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History:

The illustrious history of this large pipe organ began in 1919 when it was built for temporary installation at the Methodist Church Centenary celebration in Columbus, Ohio that year.  Macon, GA and Evansville both wanted the instrument following the Centenary, but the negotiating efforts of local leaders such as Mayor Bosse and Dr. Alfred Hughes were ultimately successful and city of Evansville purchased the organ for the coliseum with much celebration by the local press and citizenry.

Mayor Bosse Alfred Hughes, the first president of Evansville College, pledged to raise $5000 toward the purchase cost of $31,500 from friends of the college and church, and his pledge was made in the name of Evansville College. 

The organ was named in memory of Milton Z. Tinker, who came to Evansville in 1867 and worked as superintendent of music in the Evansville public schools for 47 years.  It was used for for city, county, community and college events, and was closely associated with the growth of the music department at the college.  (See history link under UE Organ Studio website below.)

The organ was rebuilt by Möller around 1933 as opus 6059.  A Moller Artiste Player mechanism was added around the time of the rebuild which allowed the instrument to be played without an organist for events in the coliseum.  The organ was played by famous organists such as E. Power Biggs, Marcel Dupre' and Virgil Fox and was played in concerts with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, which was formerly based in the coliseum.  

After the city built the new Vanderburgh Auditorium in the 1960s, the coliseum was no longer used as a major concert venue.  Around the same time the University of Evansville had new organs built on campus for teaching and recitals.  The organ at the coliseum fell into disuse and disrepair.  Local organ enthusiasts including Garland Mullins, Jeff Lyons and Kurt von Shekel donated many hours of labor trying to keep the organ in playable condition, but the financial support needed for a proper restoration of the instrument was never forthcoming. 

In 2005 Dr. Douglas Reed, professor of organ at the University of Evansville and then Dean of the Evansville A.G.O. chapter, with the help of the U.E. and Evansville city A.G.O. chapters, began a series of annual concerts to help restore interest in the coliseum organ and in the legacy of Mr. Tinker.

By 2012 the condition and safety of the instrument in the coliseum had deteriorated to the point that those responsible for the coliseum agreed that the instrument should be removed.  The University of Evansville, after contact with city, county and coliseum officials, approved the fundraising for a project to remove salvageable portions of the organ from the coliseum and store them, for possible use in a future organ project at the university.  The idea of re-purposing some of these portions of the organ in a new organ in a renovated Neu Chapel was discussed. The Evansville Chapter of the American Guild of Organist donated $10,000 toward the removal and storage of the instrument.  Students, staff and friends of the university, the local A.G.O. chapters and other in the community helped removed most of the pipes, the console and the player unit from the coliseum in early September of 2013. Space was generously provided in a private storage facility by a supporter of the university.

After several years it became evident that the stored portions of the organ would not be used in an organ project at the University of Evansville. The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners, which manages the coliseum and its contents, made arrangements to return the stored portions of the organ to the coliseum. Some of our current and past Evansville A.G.O. chapter members, including Jeff Lyons, Robert Nicholls, David Schroth and Seth Daily, played roles in renewed conversations by the County Commissioners regarding options for the future of the stored portions of the organ.

In March of 2024 the Lynnewood Hall Preservation Foundation in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania agreed to acquire some of the remaining portions of the Tinker Organ, including the organ pipes, envisioning their use in a future organ project as part of the ongoing restoration of the historic Lynnewood Hall.

-Compiled for this Evansville A.G.O. webpage, in part from the sources listed below, by Neal Biggers.



Sources:

Heading photos and information from the University of Evansville Organ Studio website:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170618133029/http://faculty.evansville.edu/dr5/history.htm   [Archived as of June 18, 2017]
https://web.archive.org/web/20171224230035/http://faculty.evansville.edu/dr5/Photos%20-%20Page%201.html   [Archived as of December 24, 2017]

Stoplist and information from The American Municipal Organ Website:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150216113450/http://www.municipalorgans.net/?p=177  [Archived as of February 16, 2015]

Article in the Evansville Courier dated July 13, 1919.  This article was found in the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library in 2015 during research by Carolyn Ann Howard for her book on the history of Evansville from 1915 to 1920.  Saved pdf of the Courier article.

Article in the Evansville Courier & Press by Roger McBain, March 4, 2005
interviewing Dr. Douglas Reed, available at Encyclopedia.com:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-14171916.html  [Link no longer available]

Article in AceNotes Today (Nov. 6, 2006), University of Evansville:
http://acelink.evansville.edu/AceNotes/Publications/20061106151457.htm  [Link no longer available]

Article and video report on 14 News, by Robinson Miles and Jill Lyman and featuring Jeff Lyons, March 6, 2024:
https://www.14news.com/2024/03/06/live-historic-organ-veterans-memorial-coliseum-be-removed/ [Video accessed in March 2024]

Article in the Evansville Courier & Press by Thomas B. Langhorne dated March 22, 2024:
https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/local/2024/03/22/evansvilles-historic-tinker-organ-going-to-pennsylvania-nonprofit/73058248007/
[Website accessed on March 22, 2024]

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