Much like its counterpart in Atlantic City, Convention Hall was originally designed with the intention of installing a large Wurlitzer Pipe Organ for public performance. Warren and Wetmore strategically placed massive grille work into the walls on either side of the hall's main stage. These grilles would cover the organ's pipes while taking advantage of the interior acoustics, making the entire hall part of the instrument. The Great Depression forced the city to abandon the original idea of buying a Wurlitzer. After the closing of the Earl Carroll Theatre in New York City in 1931, however, Asbury Park purchased that theatre's 3 manual/7 rank pipe organ and installed it in Convention Hall. It had been built three years earlier by George Kilgen & Sons of St. Louis. Though measurably smaller than the Wurlitzer for which Convention Hall had been built, the Kilgen managed to sound much larger with the help of the hall's acoustics.