Cycle Shop Pipe Organ Set for Final Concert

Spud Koons’ motorcycle shop, 1350 E. Anaheim St., will be the site Sunday of the last concert on the shop’s legendary 2,000-pipe theater organ. At the keyboard will be Del Castillo, a 96-year-old organist who has tickled the instrument’s keys on several occasions.

The organ, built in the motorcycle shop’s garage by Koons’ late husband, Joe, has been providing free entertainment every Saturday night for about 20 years, drawing music lovers and assorted musicians from all over Southern California and as far away as Africa and Europe.

However, because of declining profits coupled with municipal earthquake ordinances that would require costly renovations, Koons, 71, recently announced that she would close the shop and sell or store the organ.

After Sunday’s concert, she said, the organ--one of the few of its type in Southern California--will be disassembled and stored in Lancaster where an antique dealer will continue efforts to sell it. Among those who have expressed interest, she said, is the city of Lancaster, which reportedly is considering purchasing the instrument for use in a planned Antelope Valley theme park and theater complex.

Koons said that more than 150 tickets, at $5, have been sold for Sunday’s final concert, which begins at 2:30 p.m.