by Andrew Seguin
Two years of planning is finally coming to a completion for the members of the Dennis Union Church. They contracted with Casavant Frers of Canada to have an organ built for their church. In November of last year the team at Cape Associates was assigned the task of remodeling the “associate’s office” to accept the organ. This started with a structural ridge that allowed us to cathedral the ceiling and open the space up to accommodate the large organ pieces. A 4′ high knee wall was constructed down the middle of the room for a shutter system that allows for a “crescendo,” effect. There was extreme focus put on the final shape and size of the finished room as this affected the actual sound of the organ.
The plan provided by Casavant had dimensions down to 1/32 of an inch. When asked what the tolerance was the organ company simply replied, “What is a tolerance?” Initially this was assumed to be part of the language barrier between a French speaking company and us but that was not the case. The organ was delivered in 1,000s of pieces on February 11th and was installed over the next 2 weeks. There was less than ¼” to spare on all sides of the organ. The organ is expected to be voiced over the next couple weeks and played at worship for the first time shortly after that.
