Phyllis Logan saw the piano as she left 929 Coffee Tuesday afternoon with her family.
She walked up to piano, situated in front of Starkville Community Theatre with a large “PLAY ME” sign, and sat down to begin playing “Amazing Grace.”
Logan, from Troy, Tennessee, is in town for her granddaughter’s graduation. She said they went to the coffee shop, and just happened to see the piano as they were leaving.
The “street piano” is the newest addition to downtown Starkville, and drew no shortage of attention from passersby throughout the day.
Logan, who is mostly self-taught on the piano, said she thought it was a wonderful asset for downtown Starkville.
“I think this is very nice,” she said. “It makes a very nice addition to the community.”
The piano made its debut Tuesday morning. Mayor Lynn Spruill said she got the idea after seeing a video on social media.
“I saw a post on Twitter about street pianos,” she said. “I pulled it up and there was a video of a guy, who was homeless, but was playing this glorious music on a street piano in Florida somewhere. I thought it was an awesome thing.”
Street pianos are placed out along streets or walkways where passersby are encouraged to play. Spruill said they’re growing to be a global trend, but she hadn’t heard of any in the area.
Spruill said she talked to people about finding a piano that could go downtown for anyone to play. The piano came to the city through a donation from Jim McKell, who had one left to him by his sister.
McKell said he heard Spruill talking about wanting to find a piano and decided to donate his.
“I had a piano that I don’t play. I had it for my sister and she passed away,” he said. “It was a good time — we matched up.”
Spruill said the new piano can help drive the city’s focus on the arts.
“To focus on the arts not only means the visual arts, but also includes music,” Spruill said. “We have a lot of kids who walk downtown after school. I thought it might be a cool thing for them to play it, or sit down and listen.”
Belmont Phelps, an eighth grader at Armstrong Middle School, is one of those students. Phelps was walking along Main Street with some of her friends Tuesday afternoon when she stopped to sit and play the piano. She said she enjoyed the opportunity and wanted to come back to play it again.
“I don’t have a piano at home,” she said. “I have a keyboard. I like to play on pianos whenever I can.”
Spruill said the piano is currently located near Starkville Community Theatre so it can be stored inside overnight or during inclement weather. She said she’d also considered the breezeway near Starkville Cafe, which might be an option for a second piano.
Bob Fritzius, who was at 929 Coffee for a meeting Tuesday afternoon, listened as other people stopped by to play, and even played a few notes himself on the piano.
“It’s a good thing,” he said. “It’s been nice to listen as other people have come by to play.”
Spruill said she’ll look into finding a way to getting the piano painted. For now, she said, she’s happy to have it available.
“I thought it was a cool thing to do for a university town,” she said. “Music makes the day better.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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