GLENDALE : Decision on Organ Restoration Due

Glendale city officials may decide today whether to invest up to $500,000 more to keep the historic Lanterman Organ in Glendale or to sell the long-sequestered instrument.

Bought from the city of La Canada Flintridge for $50,000 in 1991, the organ was intended to become part of the Alex Theatre restoration. But it was soon determined that the ornate instrument--which would also need a restoration job estimated at $250,000 to $800,000--was too large for the theater, and installing it there would be too costly and would delay the renovation project.

For the past five years, the organ has remained in storage. The city and its Redevelopment Agency spent $110,000 for storage and maintenance during that time, officials said.

Sean Clarke, a project manager with the Glendale Redevelopment Agency, said two plans are under consideration. The first, proposed by a city-appointed committee, is to install the organ at the Glendale High School auditorium at an estimated cost of $1 million. Half of the money would have to be contributed by the city and Redevelopment Agency.

The second plan, which the Redevelopment Agency staff is recommending, is to put the organ up for sale to the highest bidder.

“This organ is not from Glendale; it was purchased with the hope that it would be installed at the Alex Theatre, but a feasibility study determined it just was not possible,” Clarke said.

The final solution is up to the City Council. If the council votes to put the organ up for sale, the city of La Canada Flintridge, as the original owner, would have the first right of refusal. It would then be open to the highest bidder.

So far, the only concrete offer for the organ has come from Buena Vista Pictures, which has offered $120,000 for the organ and proposed making it the centerpiece of a live music show that would precede feature films at the El Capitan theater in Hollywood.

The organ, originally installed at the Fox Theatre in San Francisco in 1929, was bought by the late Assemblyman Frank Lanterman and bequeathed to the city of La Canada Flintridge.