September 13, 2007
Plans Afoot to Restore Coney Island Carousel for New Spin on the Boardwalk
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
Two years after city officials bought the last old wooden carousel on
Coney Island for $1.8 million, they are drawing up plans to spend an
additional $2 million to make it the centerpiece of a new park near
the Boardwalk.
The 88-year-old carousel, known as the B&B Carousell, would be the
main attraction of Steeplechase Plaza, a public park proposed at the
heart of a redeveloped Coney Island, said Lynn Kelly, president of the
Coney Island Development Corporation. The development corporation has
begun searching for a consultant to oversee the restoration of the
carousel, she said.
After returning the carousel's 50 horses and two chariots to their
original appearance, city officials hope to place the carousel in a
pavilion where it could serve as a year-round attraction between the
Boardwalk and KeySpan Park, the home field of the Brooklyn Cyclones
baseball team.
"We're trying to really bring the amusements back to life," Ms. Kelly
said.
In trying to revive the Coney Island of yore, city officials may be
swimming against a riptide. Astroland Amusement Park, home to the
famous wooden roller coaster the Cyclone, closed for the season on
Sunday amid doubts about whether it will reopen.
A development company, Thor Equities, has spent more than $100 million
buying Astroland and several adjacent acres with a plan to build a
hotel, apartments and restaurants. But city officials oppose the
zoning change the developer is seeking because they say it would be
incompatible with the amusement district they want to preserve.
While that debate plays out, the city development corporation is
pushing ahead with its plan to restore the carousel, whose name
derives from its one-time owners, William Bishoff and Herman
Brienstein. The B&B had seen significant wear and tear over the
decades but was still operational when the city bought it in 2005.
Built in Brooklyn by William F. Mangels, it was first operated in New
Jersey, but it had been in Coney Island since the 1930s, Ms. Kelly
said. Some of the figures were carved by Charles Carmel and Marcus
Charles Illions, two masters of the Coney Island school of carousel
art, she said.
Its owner had arranged to sell the carousel, either whole or in parts,
through the Guernsey's auction house before city officials stepped in
and agreed to pay $1.8 million. The city then had it dismantled and
stored in a warehouse in Brooklyn.
Todd W. Goings, a builder and restorer of carousels whom the city
hired to oversee the disassembly, said the B&B was "a very nice
machine" that should "hold up well in storage." He said the cost of
restoring it would depend on how dedicated city officials were to
trying to regain the original appearance of the carousel figures, but
that the work could exceed $1 million.
"There's a lot of different ways to skin a cat, and carousels are no
different," said Mr. Goings, who lives in Marion, Ohio.
The development corporation is collecting bids from consultants
interested in planning and supervising the restoration. Bidders are
being asked for their views on how and where the restoration should be
undertaken, as well as what should be done with the accompanying band
organ, which provided the musical accompaniment as the carousel spun.
Once a contract is signed, the restoration should be completed in
about a year, Ms. Kelly said. She said the development corporation was
considering seeking a corporate sponsor for the restoration and
relocation of the carousel.
"This is proof positive that Coney Island is going to be here in the
future because the city is making this investment," she said.
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