Restoring a 150 year old Steinway Square
Donation protected
My final goal would be to donate this wonderful very rare square steinway piano to a local museum as it is a witness of 150 years history in the Kootenays.
The funds will be used for the next 2 movings as it has to go to the piano shop of Andrew Wedman in Nelson for restoring and after to the final destination and of course for the restoring.
As soon as we have the funds we can start restoring it and preserve the beautiful wood and keys.
Your support means a lot to me and I will be so grateful for your help that I will engrave your name in little plates that will be attached to the inside of the piano.
The amazing moving crew
Andrew Wedman (from http://wedmanpianotech.com/) assessing the piano
The story behind:
One day I came across this ad on FB : "Free Piano" - Until that day I had already rescued 13 pianos and found good homes for them, so I had a closer look to this ad. It was about a 1869 Steinway and Sons Square grand piano, sitting for 150 years in the Old Miners Hall in Rossland and now it was supposed to be cut in pieces if noone could get it out there. There was a problem. The only way out : 27 stairs up with a piano of 800 lbs. 3 Moving companies denied to do the job and they were shaking their heads. "Impossible" was all I heared. So I gathered a crew of friends from friends and who knows anyone who is crazy enough to do the job. Some guys from the CROSSFIT center, a student from SHSS and a guy from Pass Creek were brave enough. First I had it assessed by the local piano professional Andrew Wedman and he agreed that this piano is worth to restore and preserve. On the moving day we came across some difficulties as the piano was so heavy and still too big to get it up the stairs and turn 90 degree to get it up the last set of stairs. I wrapped up the piano and made a skid (thanks to Andrews suggestion) Finally I can not thank enough my dedicated moving crew, who decided to push this 800 lbs piano up a steep bench that we could reach by a fire door. They tied ropes to a truck and with carefully steering it we got it to the walkway were we could load it. Now it is sitting in a storage waiting for restoration.
The funds will be used for the next 2 movings as it has to go to the piano shop of Andrew Wedman in Nelson for restoring and after to the final destination and of course for the restoring.
As soon as we have the funds we can start restoring it and preserve the beautiful wood and keys.
Your support means a lot to me and I will be so grateful for your help that I will engrave your name in little plates that will be attached to the inside of the piano.
The amazing moving crewAndrew Wedman (from http://wedmanpianotech.com/) assessing the pianoThe story behind:
One day I came across this ad on FB : "Free Piano" - Until that day I had already rescued 13 pianos and found good homes for them, so I had a closer look to this ad. It was about a 1869 Steinway and Sons Square grand piano, sitting for 150 years in the Old Miners Hall in Rossland and now it was supposed to be cut in pieces if noone could get it out there. There was a problem. The only way out : 27 stairs up with a piano of 800 lbs. 3 Moving companies denied to do the job and they were shaking their heads. "Impossible" was all I heared. So I gathered a crew of friends from friends and who knows anyone who is crazy enough to do the job. Some guys from the CROSSFIT center, a student from SHSS and a guy from Pass Creek were brave enough. First I had it assessed by the local piano professional Andrew Wedman and he agreed that this piano is worth to restore and preserve. On the moving day we came across some difficulties as the piano was so heavy and still too big to get it up the stairs and turn 90 degree to get it up the last set of stairs. I wrapped up the piano and made a skid (thanks to Andrews suggestion) Finally I can not thank enough my dedicated moving crew, who decided to push this 800 lbs piano up a steep bench that we could reach by a fire door. They tied ropes to a truck and with carefully steering it we got it to the walkway were we could load it. Now it is sitting in a storage waiting for restoration.
Organizer
Kirsten Kaltwasser
Organizer
Nelson, BC