A piano was the centrepiece of the gazebo in Brockville’s Hardy Park. It lasted barely two-months after vandals rendered it unfixable.
Brockville Police was called to the waterfront park Wednesday afternoon after someone reported it had been vandalized according to Sgt. Tom Fournier who has tasked an officer to investigate the complaint.
“From the outside, it looks fine but if you open the keyboard, you’ll notice some of the keys are damaged, they’re depressed down here. I don’t know if you can get the shot down below but one of the foot pedals is broken,” explained Fournier.
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The heads are broken off many of the hammers on the instrument rendering the keys useless. A heartbreaking find for those who worked tirelessly to get the town’s first and only public piano installed which was painted by the students at Thousand Islands Secondary School.
“There was a lot of people that put a lot of time and effort and planning into making it happen and unfortunately not everyone has the same kind of community pride,” explained volunteer Stephanie Saunders.
Public pianos are popular attractions that have sprung up in communities across the United States and Canada.
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This isn’t the first time this park has been targeted by vandals. In August of 2015, a play structure was reduced to ashes and Brockville Police say they charged a number of youths in connection with the case.
Steph Saunders, who helped bring the piano idea to fruition, believes it’s time for the city to consider installing cameras at the park. Similar to those used in the downtown core and soon to be installed at the Brockville railway tunnel.
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“One of the main things was the expense, they needed WIFI in order to have the cameras installed and that’s happened, we now have WIFI in downtown Brockville and along the waterfront so that’s no longer an issue and they’ve come down in price.”
Saunders says she won’t let the vandals win and is considering turning the piano into a planter. Or a waterfall so at least students’ efforts don’t go to waste.
Brockville Police would like to speak to anyone with any information about the crime.
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