07.11.2014

Scissor stack wanted

A restored cinema in Bowness-on-Windermere in the English Lake District is wondering if anyone would consider donating an old scissor lift for a good cause?

The 85 year old Royalty Cinema, in Bowness-on Windemere has become one of the few cinemas in Europe with a working and regularly used Mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ.
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The restored organ's console

This specific Wurlitzer organ has an interesting history in that it was built in 1927 and installed in the Almira theatre in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1934, with the arrival of the ‘talkies’, it was removed and sold to the Rex Cinema in Stratford, East London. It remained there until the early 1970s, when it was removed and stored in boxes.
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The organ during its early days at the Rex Cinema in Stratford

A group of enthusiasts found out about it, and formed the Furness Theatre Organ Project to raise funds to acquire it, which they did in 2007. A major rebuild and restoration wad then required and was completed in 2012, when it was installed in the Royalty theatre, with the first concert held in October 2012.
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The Royalty Theatre

The organ is now regularly used for concerts and will be played during an upcoming charity film show on the 28th of November.

At present the organ console is sited below and to the left of the stage in the auditorium due to financial constraints. When Wurlitzer organs became an attraction in their own right, they were installed below the centre of the stage and raised on a lift during intervals between films or for concerts. The organ would typically commence playing beneath the stage and rise to stage level with increasing volume and illuminated by multi coloured spot lights.

The Bowness team would love to restore their organ to a similar location. They are fortunate in that the space below stage still exists, but what they do not have is the lift.
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The current location in the Royalty

They have the idea that a scissor stack from a scissor lift could be bolted to the concrete floor of the cellar and the organ mounted on the platform. The organ weighs around 250kg, so a unit with around 350kg capacity would be needed. It is also roughly 1.5 metres square with the seat – so the platform needs to be around that width and it needs a lift height of around three metres or so.
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A Wurlitzer on a centre stage lift

The team is thus appealing for a generous sponsor – possibly an access rental company with an old scissor lift or a lift mechanism that they might be willing to donate?

In recompense the project will of course promote the gift to the press (the original Wurlitzer installation has already attracted a good deal of press coverage) and offer free tickets and even a free weekend break with hotel so that the sponsor might attend its inaugural performance, not to mention a plaque in the auditorium.

Local company Powered Access Certification (PAC) has already volunteered to undertake the CE certification of the modified installation free of charge, so all the team needs is the lift mechanism.

If you are interested in getting involved please contact us, or Paul at PAC. Oh and if more than one scissor lift is offered we have another unusual application, lifting a bed – that’s something for another time.

To learn more about the Furness Theatre Organ Project click here