Refreshing a Hartford Treasure

September 2011

Restoration of the historic carousel in Bushnell Park in Hartford – in time to observe its 100th anniversary in 2014 – moved another step closer with the awarding of a $69,500 grant to The New England Carousel Museum by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

The museum, which operates the carousel for the City of Hartford, launched the restoration project in 2003, said Louise L. DeMars, the museum’s executive director. “Hartford is fortunate to have such an incredible antique in the community and the generous support of the Hartford Foundation brings us closer to our goal of a citywide 100th anniversary celebration.”

The carousel has 36 jumper horses (going up and down), 12 standers (stationary horses), two chariots, and a Wurlitzer 153 band organ. The grant will support work on the 27 horses that remain to be restored, as well as the carousel’s two chariots. The restoration involves stripping and restoring the wooden structure of each horse and chariot followed by priming, painting, sanding and repainting.

The carousel was completed in 1914 by Solomon Stein and Harry Goldstein, owners of the Artistic Carousel Co. of Brooklyn, N.Y.  Stein and Goldstein horses are large, flamboyant horses with eyes wide, nostrils flared and magnificent trappings including large buckles, fish scale design and colorful cabbage roses that festoon their bodies. They also have real horse hair tails. Of the 17 carousels they crafted, only two others remain operating, in Knoebles Grove, Pa., and Central Park in New York City.  The first home for Hartford’s carousel was an amusement park outside Albany, N.Y.; then, in 1940, it was moved to Meyers Lake Amusement Park in Canton, Ohio. In 1974, Hartford’s Knox Foundation brought the carousel to Hartford.

A $45,000 Hartford Foundation grant in 2004 supported the earlier stages of the restoration project including the painting and gold leafing of the carousel structure and the start of the restoration of the horses. The carousel ranks as one of the top tourist attractions in Hartford. In 2010, it provided more than 100,000 rides (three and one-half minutes for $1).
 
The New England Carousel Museum, founded as a nonprofit educational organization in 1990, is located in Bristol. It is dedicated to the acquisition, restoration, and preservation of operating carousels and carousel memorabilia and the creation of new carousel material, for the education and pleasure of the general public. For more information about the museum and the carousel, visit www.thecarouselmuseum.org.

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for the 29-town Greater Hartford region, dedicated to improving the quality of life for area residents. The Foundation receives gifts from thousands of generous individuals and families, and in 2010, awarded grants of more than $29 million to a broad range of area nonprofit organizations, the largest amount granted in the Foundation’s 85-year history. For more information about the Hartford Foundation, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.