Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Ltd., Lake City, Iowa, Op. 89 Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values, The University of Tampa, Tampa, Florida
Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Ltd., Lake City, Iowa, Op. 89
Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values, the University of Tampa, Tampa, Florida
Set in distinctly urban surroundings, the University of Tampa has grown tremendously since its founding in 1933. Tampa’s first institution of higher learning, the UT was founded in the former Tampa Bay Hotel, an exotic landmark with flamboyant Moorish domes and minarets set on the Hillsborough River. The rooms that once hosted Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, Sarah Bernhardt, Babe Ruth (who hit his longest home run ever—587 feet—at nearby Plant Field), Clara Barton, Stephen Crane, Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, the Queen of England, and many other celebrities, are today’s classrooms, laboratories, public rooms, and academic and administrative offices— the heart of a 6,500-student university that now fans out in 50 buildings on 100 acres around Plant Hall.
Located a shorter distance from Plant Hall than Ruth’s record homer is Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values, the latest addition to the campus. A gift of local entrepreneur John H. Sykes, the facility includes the 250-seat Main Hall and meditation and meeting rooms, as well as outdoor plazas and gardens. The Main Hall is furnished with flexible seating and serves for worship and assembly of various student religious groups at UT, as well as concerts, lectures, and ceremonial events. The space has an airiness that comes from its 65-foot arched ceiling and the flood of light entering through a skylight that runs the entire length of the building. Large side windows and a rear wall made entirely of glass add even more light. The floors are honed granite, with walls paneled in American black cherry. Fabric curtains hidden in ceiling pockets may be deployed according to the acoustical needs of a given event. The building’s HVAC system is as quiet as possible and the building is well insulated from exterior noise.
Our involvement came in 2007 through organ consultant Scott Riedel of Milwaukee. Our first meeting with university representatives took place at St. David’s Episcopal Church, Wayne, Pennsylvania, where our Op. 84 (III/47, 2007) is installed. After hearing and seeing the organ, the Tampa delegation made it clear that they intended to select us as the builder of their new instrument. A contract for the organ was signed in summer 2008; installation commenced two years later.
The visual design for Op. 89 was created especially for the unique architectural setting of the new space. It responds to the sheltering shape of the ceiling with great arcs that give the organ case a dynamic appearance. By having the tops of the organ case reflect the shape of the building’s arches, there is an immediate recognition of the dominant feature of the room, but in reverse. The space gives the sense of enclosing or enveloping, while the organ gives the sense of rising up and pushing the room open. The strong curving lines of the case tops are softened by the plane of the façade’s graceful transition from concave at either side to convex in the center. As a result, the strong curving shapes that define the tops of the case become like ribbons in the third dimension, first receding, then flowing forward around the pipes.
The organ case is made of American black cherry and stands nearly 50 feet tall; it is 21 feet wide at its greatest and just over eight feet deep. The console is placed about six feet in front of the organ case to permit two rows of singers to stand in between. The Great is located at the level of the impost, with the Swell above it. The Choir is below the Great, in the base of the case. The largest pipes of the Pedal stand behind the main case, while the Pedal upperwork shares windchest space with the Great. The façade pipes are made of burnished 90% tin and include pipes of the Great 8′ Principal (notes 1–27, at the top of the case), Great/Pedal 16′ Principal (notes 1–45, at impost level), and the Pedal 8′ Octave (9–32, mounted upside down in front of the Choir division). The 8′ Horizontal Trumpet, also made of tin, takes its commanding position in the center of the façade.
Op. 89 employs mechanical key action for the manuals and pedal upperwork; the Horizontal Trumpet and the largest pipes of the Pedal have electric action. All coupling is mechanical. The electric stop and combination action includes the usual complement of pistons and 256 memory levels. The manual divisions and Pedal upperwork are voiced on 3 inches wind pressure while the Pedal basses and solo reed are voiced on 5 inches. The organ is tuned in equal temperament.
The new building was dedicated on December 10, 2010, at which time the organ was first heard by the public. Dedication recitals in early 2011 included January 30, David Isele; February 12 and 13, Haig Mardirosian; March 12 and 13, Carole Terry; April 9 and 10, Kurt Knecht. Pictures of the construction and installation may be found at
Dobson Pipe Organ Builders
William Ayers
Abraham Batten
Kent Brown
Lynn A. Dobson
Lyndon Evans
Randy Hausman
Dean Heim
Scott Hicks
Donny Hobbs
Pat Lowry
Arthur Middleton
John Ourensma
John A. Panning
Kirk P. Russell
Robert Savage
Jim Streufert
John A. Streufert
Jon H. Thieszen
Pat Thieszen
Sally J. Winter
Dean C. Zenor
Dobson Pipe Organ Builders
Op. 89, 2011
56 ranks, 58 stops
GREAT (II)
16′ Principal 90% tin
8′ Principal 90% tin
8′ Gamba 75% tin
8′ Harmonic Flute 30% tin
8′ Chimney Flute 30% tin
1–12 stopped wood
4′ Octave 52% tin
4′ Spire Flute 30% tin
22⁄3′ Twelfth 52% tin
2′ Fifteenth 52% tin
13⁄5′ Seventeenth 52% tin
2′ Mixture IV 52% tin
16′ Posaune 52% tin
8′ Trumpet 52% tin
4′ Clarion 52% tin
8′ Horizontal Trumpet 90% tin
en chamade
Swell to Great
Choir to Great
SWELL (III, enclosed)
8′ Diapason 75% tin
8′ Bourdon wood & 30% tin
8′ Viola 75%
8′ Voix Celeste CC 75% tin
4′ Octave 75% tin
4′ Harmonic Flute 30% tin
22⁄3′ Nasard 30% tin
2′ Piccolo 30% tin
13⁄5′ Tierce 30% tin
2′ Mixture III 75% tin
16′ Bassoon 75% tin
8′ Trumpet 75% tin
8′ Oboe 75% tin
4′ Clarion 75% tin
Tremulant
CHOIR (I, enclosed)
16′ Bourdon wood
8′ Salicional 75% tin
8′ Gemshorn 52% tin
8′ Unda Maris GG 52% tin
8′ Lieblich Gedeckt wood & 52% tin
4′ Fugara 75%
4′ Recorder open wood & 30% tin
2′ Flageolet 30% tin
1′ Mixture II 75% tin
8′ Trumpet 52% tin
8′ Clarinet 30% tin
8′ Vox Humana 30% tin
Tremulant
8’ Horizontal Trumpet (Great)
Swell to Choir
PEDAL
32′ Contra Bourdon wood
16′ Open Diapason wood
16′ Principal (Great)
16′ Subbass (ext)
16′ Bourdon (Choir)
8′ Octave 90% tin
8′ Flute (ext Open Diapason)
8′ Gedeckt (ext)
4′ Super Octave 52% tin
22⁄3 Mixture IV 52% tin
32′ Contra Trombone
aluminum & 52% tin
16′ Trombone (ext)
16′ Posaune (Great)
8′ Trumpet (Great)
4′ Clarion (Great)
8′ Horizontal Trumpet (Great)
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Choir to Pedal
