St. Andrew Catholic Church - Upper Arlington, OH - 3/35 Austin - Organ Facade - Finished Facade

List of Pipe Organ Profiles

Pipe Organ Profiles Home

E-mail the Webmaster

St. Andrew Catholic Church
3/35 Austin

Under the Pipes

St. Andrew Catholic Church
Upper Arlington, OH
3/35 Austin
Opus 2771 - 1998

Organ Facade - Finished Product

finished case

Story of facade construction continued...

The finished facade is 28 feet wide and 25 1/2 feet high at its highest point. It is made up of 42 sections and includes over 50 sheets of cherry veneer plywood, over 1,400 feet of solid cherry wood, over 25 sheets of birch plywood, five gallons of wood glue, and eight gallons of lacquer. Facade builder Dr. Charles A. Caranna estimates that he spent over 400 hours building the case, not including all of the time mentally reviewing all of the work that had to be done. Dr. Caranna noted that the facade had to be modified. "The center tower was cut down about four feet on site so that it did not block the Rose window too much."

The finished facade proved to be worth all of the trouble, and proved all of the doubters wrong. "The tech sent from the Austin Organs factory to tune the organ said that he had no idea what to expect. However after seeing it he said was one of the nicest facades he had ever seen."

Along with having an aesthetically beautiful facade, the church also saved a big bundle of money. All of the materials and labor were donated by Dr. Caranna. In an interview with The Upper Arlington News, Dr. Caranna described why he did it. "To me this is one way of showing thanks for the ability to do this work. I know that not everyone can do this. I felt God had given me this ability, and this was my way of saying thanks." (source: Upper Arlington News, June 24, 1998).

The rich, warm colors of the cherry wood blend nicely with the ceiling of the church. Dr. Caranna noted, "Most organ facades are made of oak, but Fr. Buffer wanted cherry as he thought it would look better over time. The cherry wood will get darker with age. It's amazing to see how much it has darkened already."

The church is complete, the facade is complete, but one thing is still unfinished.

"We need to finish the organ," said Dr. Caranna, referring to the ranks of the organ which were not installed in order to save money. "Hopefully one day we'll have the money to complete it."

Check out the details of the finished product below. Click on the photos to get a larger image.

Close up of one of the center sills of the organ. Note the beautiful hand crafted wood brackets.	Here's a view of the lower center sill of the organ. The air supply lines for the pipes enter under the pipes.
The pipes in the center are framed by the beautiful cherry panels on either side of them.	Looking up is the upper center sill of the facade. Every pipe in the facade is a working pipe.
Side view of the upper center sill. The purple hue glowing from the pipes on the right is from the light spilling through the church's Rose window.	Directly in front is the 16' Violone CCC pitch pipe, the longest metal pipe in the organ. This angle shows how it fits inside the top of the tower.
Here's a closeup of the top section of one of the tall towers. The color similarity between the facade and the church ceiling, which is nothing more than a wood floor suspended from the roof, is clearly evident.	View of one of the taller towers from the side. Note the color difference between the pipes in the facade and those behind it.
Here's the back side view of the center tower. The two taller towers which house the large 16' Violone pipes can be seen on either side.	Good illustration of the separation between the organ facade on the right and the rest of the organ case on the left. From a distance the separation is not evident.

Links about the facade of the St. Andrew Austin Pipe Organ.

drawing

construction

Construction and Assembly

Finished

Finished Facade

St. Andrew Catholic Church
3/35 Austin

Under the Pipes

List of Pipe Organ Profiles

Pipe Organ Profiles Home

E-mail the Webmaster