Planning supports enjoyment of a historic pastime

The preservation of a community’s identity and culture is one of many facets community planners consider when creating healthy communities.

Recently, Coeur d’Alene native Bud Ford and his wife, June, challenged the community to match or exceed their $500,000 pledge to sponsor the homecoming of the Coeur d’Alene carousel originally featured at Playland Pier. Ford said he “had enjoyed the carousel and would like to see it returned to its proper place for the community to enjoy.”

The Coeur d’Alene Carousel Foundation, an area nonprofit, has been instrumental in coordinating the purchase and campaign to find a permanent home for the original 1922 hand-carved Spillman Junior carousel. The vision of the foundation was also shared amongst the broader community. During the CDA 2030 data collection effort in 2013-2014, bringing back the carousel was published as an action in support of our community history and heritage. See www.CDA2030.org.

In 2011, the carousel was generously purchased by John and Pat Foote and gifted to the foundation. The Coeur d’Alene City Council recently approved a lease for the carousel to be re-established in the Memorial Field Plaza, not far from its original location at Playland Pier, as a part of the Four Corners master plan. The carousel, which operated locally from 1941 until the mid-1970s, will be the only known carousel to return to its original home city.

The Ford family is encouraging community members to invest in this historic community asset by contributing monetary and in-kind donations to the foundation by providing a match until the end of the year.

Tax deductible contributions to the Coeur d’Alene Carousel Foundation can be made online at www.cdacarousel.org, mailed to P.O. Box 170, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83816, or donated to The Coeur d’Alene Carousel Foundation account at Idaho Trust Bank, 622 E Sherman Ave. Info: www.cdacarousel.org or email Cari Fraser, foundation president, at cari_fraser@yahoo.com.