Fats Domino's Steinway restored

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

FILE - In this March 14, 2006 file photo, workers with the Louisiana State Museum slowly roll out one of Fats Domino's pianos out of his gutted house in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orlenas. The white Steinway grand piano salvaged after Hurricane Katrina has been restored and will be the centerpiece of an exhibit in New Orleans' French Quarter. (AP Photo/Times-Picayune, Chris Granger, File)

A white Steinway grand piano salvaged from legendary musician Fats Domino's home after Hurricane Katrina has had its classic looks restored and will be the centerpiece of an exhibit in New Orleans' French Quarter.

The piano was damaged after water poured through a broken levee during the August 2005 storm, flooding Domino's home in the Lower 9th Ward, which was devastated by Katrina's floodwaters.

The piano was unveiled Thursday at the Old U.S. Mint, now a museum in the French Quarter.

Katrina tore into Louisiana and Mississippi on Aug. 29, 2005. Flooding from storm surge and broken levees washed over an estimated 80 per cent of New Orleans.

Domino, born in New Orleans in 1928, sold more than 65 million records between 1950 and 1963, making Billboard's pop chart 77 times and its rhythm and blues chart 61 times. The pianist, singer and songwriter is regarded as one of the forerunners of rock music, beloved by musicians like the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Billy Joel.

The restoration of Domino's piano came through $30,000 donated to the Louisiana Museum Foundation.

The largest gift of $18,000 came from Allan Slaight, a retired music producer in Miami. Other donations came from Sir Paul McCartney, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Tipitina's Foundation.

Greg Lambousy, director of collections for the Louisiana State Museum, described the restoration of Domino's piano as "painstaking" and a years-long process.

"It was in really bad shape," he said. "It had been submerged in water for weeks."

The piano was to be unveiled Thursday at the Old U.S. Mint, now a museum in the French Quarter.

It will be part of the Louisiana State Museum's music exhibition opening in 2014 but separately will go on display at the Mint in June.