The Brooklyn Baptist Temple was damaged by fire on July 8. Part of the interior collapsed, the roof was damaged, and some of the stained-glass windows were broken.
The church’s historic Steere organ suffered damage. The 14-rank Swell organ was completely destroyed. The rest of the organ suffered smoke damage, but 24 ranks still play.
Plans are to build a new Swell, replicating the original. Glück Pipe Organs of New York has been appointed as organ conservators.
The organ was built by J. W. Steere & Son as Opus 700 in 1918, and comprises four manuals and 38 ranks. Keith Bigger, curator, began restoring the organ in 1987. It was formally rededicated in 1991.
The Organ Historical Society honored the instrument with a historic citation plaque in 1993. The organ was the subject of the article, “A Reservoir of Inspiration: The Brooklyn Baptist Temple and its Pipe Organs,” by Jonathan B. Hall, in The Tracker, vol. 47, no. 4, October 2003, pp. 12–18.
The church was built in the 1890s and renovated in 1918 after a devastating fire destroyed it. The Romanesque Revival building is the fifth that the congregation has inhabited since 1823. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Churches.
September 27, 2010
THE DIAPASON
