We are as much dismayed as Solari Report ally Dr. Joseph Farrell at the sad news that the three-story Macy’s in Philadelphia’s famous Wanamaker building (originally the Wanamaker Department Store) will close in March 2025. The Macy’s in the Wanamaker building is one of 66 Macy’s locations nationwide planned for closing this spring.
Since 1911, the famous department store in downtown Philadelphia has housed the world’s largest fully functioning pipe organ, with over 28,000 pipes. Customers, historians, and music and art lovers are all concerned over what will happen to the glorious instrument, even though the Philadelphia Historical Commission has designated it a historic object.
Since the 1920s, the store has hosted concerts with renowned organists and audiences of thousands of people, and the first radio broadcast of an organ concert was staged at Wanamaker’s in 1922. Until the 1960s, the organ was played every morning at opening, and recitals are still happening to this day. Even though the department store building has been in different ownership hands since 1978 when the Wanamaker family first sold it to Carter Hawley Hale Stores, the preservation of the organ was always a promised commitment of the new owners.
The Covid-19 so-called “pandemic” dealt a blow to the building’s profitability when tenants did not return to the upper floors. The building is now partly owned by a real estate company, and plans exist to convert it to apartments and fitness facilities.
The Friends of the Wanamaker Organ membership association is asking for support to help keep the organ alive. The last of the daily concerts at Macy’s will be on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
For our Music of the Week, hear one of the concerts played on the organ featuring part of Symphony VI by Charles-Marie Widor.
Related:
Friends of the Wanamaker Organ, Inc.
Center City Macy’s, located in iconic Wanamaker Building, will close in March (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Macy’s to close Center City store in historic Wanamaker building in March (Philly Voice)
The Wanamaker organ has been a treasured piece of Philly history for over 100 years − a historian explains its illustrious past and uncertain future after Macy’s closes (The Conversation)
A Look at the Famous Wanamaker Organ at Macy’s Philadelphia (CBS Philadelphia 2019, on YouTube)
The Wanamaker Organ – Inside the world’s largest operating musical instrument (YouTube)
With Center City Macy’s closing, what happens to the Wanamaker Organ and holiday displays? (CBS Philadelphia, January 2025)
Wanamaker Organ (Wikipedia)
Charles-Marie Widor (Wikipedia)
Symphony No. 6 for Organ (Wikipedia)
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