GLENDALE : GROUP TO LOBBY FOR ORGAN

Organ enthusiasts and theater preservationists will argue in favor of including the Fox Lanterman pipe organ in a renovated Alex Theatre during a study session next week before the City Council, which serves as the Redevelopment Agency.

The organ, originally installed in the Fox Theatre in San Francisco in 1929, was later purchased by the late Assemblyman Frank Lanterman and bequeathed to the city of La Canada Flintridge, which sold it to Glendale in January for $50,000.

Members of the Los Angeles Theatre Organ Society said they were dismayed that a city-appointed task force on the Alex has concluded that the organ is too large for the theater and that the time and cost of restoring it would set back plans to convert the theater into a performing arts center.

Chairman Donn Lipton said members would present their proposals during the session, to be held from 8 to 10 a.m. Tuesday in the city manager’s conference room as City Hall, 613 E. Broadway.