Historic Carousel Rides Again

SALISBURY BEACH — When the historic carousel with 44 “carvings” was turned on for the first time here on the Friday night before the Fourth of July, it was a “commencement” of a new era for a beach that is experiencing major revitalization.
That is how Amy Moore, executive director of the carousel, believes those who have worked long and hard to raise money and plan for the carousel, see the carousel’s opening day.
“It is a beginning,” Moore said. “It shows how eager and passionate the community feels about preserving our culture.”
The carousel is the latest attraction at the beach, which has seen a new welcome center, built by the town. Several new projects are planned that will bring new life to the beach.
In its first week at its new home on Salisbury beach, a steady flow of children, teenagers and a few adults paid the $3 to ride a painted horse, giraffe, camel, goat or zebra for three minutes beneath mirrors and lights listening to calliope music, under the watchful eye of veteran carousel operator Sonny Emerson.
The community, led by the Salisbury Beach Betterment Association, raised $3 million out of a goal of $4.2 million to bring this carousel to the beach. For decades it was a featured attraction at Harvey’s Lake amusement park in the Pennsylvania Poconos. Owned for most of its life by the Wintersteen family, the carvings have been in cold storage for the last 20 years, Moore said.
The carvings for this carousel, as the animals are called, were created in 1909 by W.F. Mangels at the Looff Factory in East Providence, RI. They were moved to Salisbury to fill the void left when the original Broadway Flying Horses were sold in 1976 and carted off to Santa Monica, CA.
Charles Looff, who died in 1918, was a master carver and builder of hand-carved carousels and amusement rides. “He was an artist,” Moore said of the carved animals on the carousel.
Looff designed “warrior” horse and animals with tassels and crystal shields. Some like a white horse, named Patriot still have those details, but others have been repainted with bright colors, which Moore described as influenced by Disney.
There are two bench seats that were part of a four-seat carriage. The bench seats look more like something out of Harry Potter, Moore said, with serpents and dragons. A second carriage is in storage, Moore said.
The carousel has three lanes of carvings with the outside lane having the larger carvings that are stationery. The inside two lanes have carvings that rise and fall. They are the most popular, Moore said.
To house the 114-year-old carousel, the partnership built an “authentic” looking pavilion to house on land at 7 Broadway owned by the Wayne Capolupo family. It is across the street from the new beach welcome center and will also house a micro-bank for the Newburyport Bank.
There are modern touches to the building, including a mechanical device to lift wheelchairs onto the carousel. The hydraulic lift was designed and engineered by Capolupo’s company, SPS New England. Its engineers took time from designing and constructing bridges and highways to create the lift to make the carousel compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
When the inspector for the state Department of Public Safety checked out the device, it is so precise he said he had never seen anything like it, Moore said.
Other modern touches include 744 3.5-watt LED lights that will last for 50,000 hours, which will light the carousel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
There are 12 carvings that have not yet been claimed by a company or individual in the beach association’s Adopt a Horse campaign. Patriot, the white warrior horse on the outside lane, was the first to be claimed by the association.
If a carving is claimed for $12,000 for the next 20 years, a plaque is placed under the carving with its name and sponsor engraved.