Burlington’s City Park Carousel is currently closed for evaluation in preparation for its refurbishment. The City Park Carousel is a 3-row Dentzel Menagerie Carousel built around the turn of the 20th century. The City of Burlington purchased the carousel in 1948. Most recently, the carousel was refurbished in 1985. Now, over 30 years later, the carousel is again in need of refurbishment.
Because the carousel is historic, rare, and extremely intricate, its mechanisms require custom fabrication by carousel restoration specialists and its animals and facades are works of art, necessitating skilled craftsmanship. After the 30th annual Carousel Festival, the carousel closed to begin preparation for evaluations to determine the scope and timeline of the refurbishment project. This is the first phase necessary to completely restore the carousel and preserve its menagerie of animals, intricate artwork, and nostalgic presence.
“The Dentzel Carousel is the crown jewel of Burlington’s park system and the City is committed to caring for this rare treasure. This carousel has provided generations of memories to this community and will continue to do so after the necessary work is completed to keep it running properly now and into the future,” said Burlington Recreation & Parks Director Tony Laws.
Carousel refurbishment specialists will be conducting thorough evaluations of the Carousel during the month of October. These evaluations will determine if the Carousel reopens for the remainder of the fall season, or if refurbishment work can begin immediately. Until further notice, the public should anticipate that the Carousel will remain closed. Updates regarding the availability of the Carousel will be available at: www.BurlingtonNC.gov/Carousel.
While the carousel will is currently closed City Park’s other amusement rides are still available. Patrons can enjoy the miniature train, planes, cars, and boat rides from 10am-8pm on Saturday and 1pm-7pm on Sunday until October 31, 2017 and again, starting on March 4, 2018. Details about operating hours, ticket prices and height restrictions can be found at www.BurlingtonNC.gov/CityPark.