STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — There’s a new downtown attraction in Stevens Point that cost the city next to nothing.
Mayor Mike Wiza says he was able to stumble into a deal for a free piano that a friend of a friend was giving away on Facebook, and decided it would make a good fixture for downtown patrons.
“It’s available to anyone in the public, and the last several times I’ve gone down there have been people playing all genres of music,” said Wiza. “It’s really cool to see that. These people may not have an instrument of their own that they can access. Instead, they can come downtown and play it.”
Wiza says in addition to the free piano other residents donated paint and offered to spruce up the instrument at no cost. Therefore, the only cost to the city was a few L brackets and bolts to install it on the sidewalk along with the manpower to put it in place.
He says that hardware is all the city plans to invest in the fixture at this point. There will be no regular tuning or maintenance on the piano. As soon as it becomes unusable, it will be tossed.
“Throw it out, recycle it, and then I’ve got two more pianos already lined up. People have heard [the story] and said ‘hey when that one goes bad you can have mine.’
“So, we’re set. It was a great thing to do with almost no out-of-pocket expense. Now more than ever, people need something fun to do. Everybody is on edge,” added Wiza.
There’s absolutely no cost for anyone that wants to tickle the keys on the fixture. Wiza says they only ask that anyone who does play uses gloves and takes time to wipe down the keys after they are done playing so it is clean for the next person. A small amount of sanitizing wipes have been provided, but Wiza does ask that piano players bring their own wipes if possible and wear a mask.
Wiza closed the discussion by taking two cents worth of free advice from WSAU News Director Mike Leischner, who said the city should consider a sort of “destruct the piano” fundraiser when the current model is shot. That would allow residents to make a small donation to a charitable cause in exchange for taking a swing at the piano with a baseball bat, ax, or another type of weapon in a safe, controlled environment until it is destroyed. Wiza suggested the money could go for a shelter or cover for the piano.
Other topics Wiza and Leischner discussed during this week’s chat included:
Start of video- City response to Governor Evers’ face mask mandate and other COVID-19 related updates
7:00- Update on outdoor events that are still happening in the city and the decision to shut down football at city-owned Goerke Park
9:00- Installation of the city’s first public instrument, an outdoor piano
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