I agree. A Carousel, and a really nice Ferris Wheel would be fantastic. I'd
love to once again
have a view overlooking our city.
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "dfsavgny" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> 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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