The ORIGINAL Wurlitzer organ has returned to the Fox Theatre Walsenburg

Many Huerfano residents may remember good times at the movies when the organ, with all its different instrumental sounds, delighted them.

The Fox used it until the late 1950s when it was moved and became a choir organ at St. Mary Catholic Church. Now, the town treasure will have a new life and audience back to where it started. The installation of this antique marks a long history of love and respect from the many people who worked with it or enjoyed its music. St. Mary took over the organ and removed all the non-choir features, but the Pastor may have sensed a new future for the Wurlitzer. He kept all the valuable unused equipment intact and saved it for the next person to use. Over time, it came into disuse and was abandoned in the choir stall.

“Nobody knew how to fix it, and no one wanted to damage it,” said George Birrer.

Then, in 2005, the treasure was rediscovered and revived. Birrer brought it back to the Fox Theatre, and miracle workers came forward to perform magic. The Pike’s Peak Area Theatre Organ Society has restored the organ, a charitable labor of love. Having traveled full circle in fifty years, it’s back sparkling fresh and ready to enchant.