Seniors at New Horizons Senior Club in Montgomery were discouraged after the center’s Baldwin grand piano was damaged after someone poured alcohol over the top.

The top of the piano was discovered to be damaged in September after the cover was removed and someone poured or spilled, deliberately or accidentally, alcohol on the top of the instrument.

Virginia Moore, spokesperson for New Horizons Senior Club, said the center has experienced other acts of vandalism recently. The wheels on the portable book cart, a gift from the Fox Hill Bruderhof Community, were torn off; the Silverado Steppers’ decorative costume accessories were stolen; closets have been broken into and their content scattered or stolen.

“We have a beautiful senior center and it’s starting to show wear and tear from weekend rentals,” Moore said.

Moore said she personally knows two people who have gained entry to the building when no one was there because the building was not properly locked.

Moore presented the Village of Montgomery Board of Trustees with a petition with 45 signatures that requests a security system that would prevent these thefts and acts of vandalism and for the use of the piano to be returned to seniors without the $100 piano use fee.

Village of Montgomery Mayor Stephen Brescia said the key to unlock the piano keyboard was returned to the seniors so they can use the piano twice a month. While the details are still being determined, Brescia said the $100 fee will be waved. Instead, seniors might be asked to make a small donation.

The village will pay for repairs to the piano and are investigating security camera systems, Brescia said. A more robust check-off system will be prepared for weekend rentals so that a more thorough examination of the building and its contents will be completed before a deposit is returned.

“We look forward to working with the seniors in the future,” Brescia said.

However, the key board key locks the piano keys, but not the inside of the piano, leaving it open to vandalism, Moore said.

The destruction of the piano was distressing to many seniors, as evidenced by several comments collected with the petition. Louise Miller, vice president of the Senior Horizons Club, said she was upset to hear the piano was damaged because the seniors didn’t cause it. She added the piano is a wonderful installment in the center that makes people happy.

“[The piano] means joy and music brings people together . . . Music is beautiful,” Vice President of the Senior Horizons Club Louise Miller said.

The piano brings comfort and joy to the members of the senior club as players play songs from the seniors’ youth. Moore recalled one specific meeting in which she played “Goodnight Irene.” The song reminded a married couple of their time separated during the Korean War, when the young soldier would call his sweetheart, Irene, to sing her the tune.

“Seniors must cope with the often unpleasant effects of aging and the other frustrating events of daily life,” Moore said. “To be able to listen to music from their youth brings back wonderful memories, calms the mind, and restores the soul.”