Hi Jeff, I saw your posting on MMD today.  I had a very similar
experience with the city of Raleigh.  They have two carousels with band
organs that don't work.  When I asked why, they told me the same thing
that you are hearing.

I offered to fix the band organs for free and they took me up on it.
I am able to barely keep them running.  They really need a full
restoration.  The local public radio station and the newspaper have
both done stories on the organs.  It seems to have generated enough
public interest to make the city consider having the organs
professionally restored.

I would strongly encourage you to keep at the park management to allow
you to fix the band organs.  I think it is so important to have these
treasures playing in public locations.  The minute an organ doesn't
play anymore, it starts to be forgotten.  If you can just get them
going, you might generate enough interest from the public to make it
worth it to the park to pay a full restoration.  Publicity is the key.

I predict that after you get the organ running, there will be some
other problems to overcome.  I have found that operators need to be
trained to run the organs properly or they will just damage them.
Also, most of the operators, especially the young kids, don't like
the band organ because they say it is too loud.  They will often tell
the public that the organ is still broken and revert back to the CD.
They are also not above minor acts of sabotage to stop the organs from
running.  Even with all of this, I still feel it was worth doing the
volunteer work.

Ben Haass
Cary, North Carolina