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Indiana museum raising funds to repair damaged 1873 piano

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) – The directors of a northern Indiana art museum say they’ll use a gift from a benefactor to help raise funds to restore a more than 140-year-old grand piano.

The Haan Mansion Museum of Indiana Art says the Lafayette museum’s Chickering Concert Grand Piano has been silent for years due to a damaged sound board.

But a gift from a donor who’s fascinated by the rosewood piano’s exquisite workmanship has set the instrument on the road to repair. The piano was built in Boston in 1873 and was known for its impressive tone quality.

Contributions for its repair can be made to the museum’s “Sleeping Beauty” Piano Fund.

The museum also recently received an anonymous gift that’s helped create an endowment fund to finance the museum’s future operating needs.