Lake City Celebrates as Dobson Pipe Organ Rises from the Ashes

When a chorus of fire alarms pierced a cloudless sky in Lake City on June 15, 2021, the community stood shocked as flames engulfed and destroyed the historic Dobson Pipe Organ Builders facility on N. Illinois Street. But for owner John Panning, the wheels were already turning to figure out how they would rebuild… even as the rubble smoldered. 

“Immediately after, we thought, ‘What are we going to do?’” he said. “After considering a lot of factors, we made the decision to stay in Lake City, both to preserve the workforce and especially after the fire, because of all the support we received from the community.” 

Several business owners stepped up and offered their empty space for he and his eighteen employees to utilize. “It helped us carry on in the interim until our new building was built,” he said. 

A Community Comes Together

Considered one of the premier pipe organ builders in the country with instruments in prominent churches, universities, and concert halls as far away as Oxford, England and Sydney, Australia, Dobson is renowned for a style and craftsmanship inspired by traditions from previous centuries; designs that can take several years to conceptualize and complete. 
“One of the great things about our company is that the workforce here is very experienced and tenured. Some have been with us twenty, even thirty years,” said Panning. “And those people weren’t that inclined to move somewhere else. You can’t lose your building and crew and still have a company.”

Lake City and the surrounding communities continued their support, a circle that included the Western Iowa Advantage (WIAD) and a financial boost from the Calhoun County Electric Cooperative Association (CCECA) via a USDA Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program. Designed to support various rural projects related to business operations, equipment costs, and workforce training, the program offers ten-year, zero percent interest loans made available to local utilities that are passed through to local business owners.

“The fire was tragic. Dobson is seen as an important part of the Lake City community and it would have been devastating to see them go away,” said CCECA CEO Keaton Hildreth. “We felt it was important to reach out and provide assistance however we could.”

Following a competitive, nation-wide application process that took two years to complete, the CCECA was awarded a $1.5 million loan on behalf of Dobson Pipe Organ, enabling the company to design and build a new structure on the same site as the old one.

Rising From the Ashes

Seven hundred people arrived in Lake City from as far away as Massachusetts, California, and Pennsylvania on October 19th, 2024. Upon arrival, they waited in line for a tour of Dobson’s new, 16,000 sq. ft. building, which boasts energy-efficient systems and a more innovative workspace. The event also marked Dobson’s 50th anniversary and kicked off with a concert at Lake City Union Church on Dobson’s Opus 13, completed in 1980.

“Dobson Pipe Organ Builders is a unique industry, one that is perfect in rural Iowa and Lake City,” said Theresa Hildreth, Executive Director of Calhoun County Economic Development. “Had the company relocated after the fire, it would have meant a loss of twenty two Calhoun County jobs. While twenty two may not seem like much, it could be considered significant in a county like Calhoun with a population of 9,763.”

With over three years’ worth of projects in the works and a newly launched summer internship program designed to give students hands-on experience in pipe organ building, Panning remains in awe of the support he and his employees received from Lake City and beyond.

“We received so much help from our friends, but it was beyond that; people we didn’t know as friends helped us out. It’s been humbling,” he said. “There are always people out there trying to do the right thing and build up the community, and we found that out in a tremendous way in the aftermath of the fire.”