For nearly two months a refurbished piano sat comfortably in Pocket Park next to Central Street Farmhouse in downtown Bangor. Some tunes were beautiful compositions from accomplished pianists, such as Jeffrey Biegel, who put on a show for the public in September. Others were improvisational creations, such as that of 19-year-old Willy Buchstaber of Stetson. And some were the sounds of excited children touching the keys of an instrument for the first time.
The piano was set to be donated, but plans changed when the owners of the private space next to Central Street Farmhouse discovered Saturday morning that the piano had been vandalized beyond repair the night before it was set to move to its permanent indoor residence.
Betsy and Zeth Lundy, husband-and-wife owners of Central Street Farmhouse, offered space for the piano in Pocket Park after The Kindness Project encountered some permit complications with the city. The Kindness Project is a philanthropic group founded in 2013 by Andrea Beaulieu and Steve Gray, who hoped the piano would spread joy and happiness to the people of Bangor.
“We had planned on donating this piano to the Lundys to thank them for letting us use Pocket Park,” Beaulieu said.
On Friday, The Kindness Project posted a notice on their Facebook page that Friday would be last the day the piano would be available to play.
“Saturday morning we received a message from [Betsy Lundy] that the keys had been glued down so you couldn’t play it any more, right on the day they were supposed to take it. … We felt so sad because the Lundys have children, and we knew they would be so excited to play the piano.”
Beaulieu and the Lundys attempted to pry up the keys, but the piano was beyond repair.
“The soundboard had been ripped out. A lot of the hammers had been ripped out. … I think someone came through and had their way with it,” Zeth Lundy said.
For Beaulieu the vandalism came as a shock because the piano sat safely in the park for so long.
“We were surprised because it went almost two months being cared for by the community. … But sometimes people do careless things,” she said. “[B]ut both Steve [Gray] and I are not the type of people to dwell on anything negative,” Beaulieu added in an email.
“I raised three small kids here for almost five years, and it’s one of the safest places we’ve been. I don’t want to paint this place as a place where vandals strike. … We don’t let that kind of stuff get us down here,” Zeth Lundy said.
Despite the unfortunate turn of events, the piano isn’t a complete loss, and the unwavering optimism that defines The Kindness Project’s goals has yet to be beaten down.
“We’re trying to remind ourselves that it did give the community almost two months worth of music. … We’re going to bring tools down to dismantle the piano so it can be upcycled into a piece of art,” Beaulieu said. “Its joy will carry on,” she added in an email.
As for the future of the street piano project, Bangor can expect to see another next year.
“Despite the disappointing cherry on top of the awesome piano sundae (and due in part to our undeterred optimism), we hope to partner with the Kindness Project again in the spring and install a new piano in our park for all to enjoy,” Central Street Farmhouse’s Facebook post read.
Beaulieu said she plans to create this piano with the Lundy’s children in mind, designing something new and exciting for them to enjoy.
“It’s a bummer that it was destroyed, but ultimately I’m choosing to focus on the positive,” Zeth Lundy said. “I think it was a really nice installment for downtown and it served its purpose. It brought joy to people who played it and heard it played.”
