Carousel could open this summer
<p>Coeur d’Alene carousel ponies in storage await relocation to a new home near Memorial Field.</p>
When the Old Playland Pier carousel returns to life, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe will be represented on the ride.
The Tribe is among multiple sponsors who have committed funds to help the Coeur d’Alene Carousel Foundation succeed in relocating the old carousel to a permanent home at Memorial Field. The area is now under construction, part of the Mullan Road improvement project which includes a new Memorial Field plaza with a spot for the carousel near Northwest Boulevard.
The goal to fund the building and operating endowment is approximately $450,000, but current donations are only about $20,000 shy of the amount needed to break ground.
The foundation hopes to open the carousel in its new home sometime this summer. The Mullan Road improvement project is expected to be complete in late July.
“We are thrilled to have the Coeur d’Alene Tribe support this remarkable project. The history and heritage of Coeur d’Alene is represented on the carousel by the handpainted art panels, two of which the Tribe has ‘adopted,’” said Cari Fraser, carousel foundation president.
The Tribe has also purchased the naming rights to one of 20 carousel horses offered for adoption. One of the black horses, with its head held up high, will be named “Coeur d’Alene War Pony.” There are 18 ponies of various colors, poses and positions left for adoption. There are cream-colored, black, yellow, brown or dapple gray, some with heads up and some with heads down. The cost to adopt a pony on the carousel’s outer circle, like the Tribe’s, is $15,000. An interior pony can be adopted and named for $10,000.
“It’s really cool to see a group working so hard to bring back a part of Coeur d’Alene’s history,” said Tribe Chairman Chief Allan. “The carousel was a memorable part of Coeur d’Alene in the past and it will be a place where families can come together to make fun memories again in the very near future. We hope more people will join us to help it back to Coeur d’Alene.”
The carousel first opened in the summer of 1942 on the beach in Coeur d’Alene and is now in storage, fully restored and ready for operation.
Other sponsors have stepped up to help the effort, and a March fundraiser sponsored by Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer and John Swallow helped raise just over $40,000 for the cause.
There are many opportunities to support the project, Fraser said, including tile purchases. For more information and a list of current sponsors, visit www.cdacarousel.com.