Carrousel critters get a brief break
The 54 horses, one giraffe, snarling tiger and two dragon chairs on Spokane’s beloved Looff Carrousel in Riverfront Park have just settled down for a long winter’s nap.
On Feb. 17, the carved creatures will spring into motion again after their annual maintenance, continuing to delight children and adults in a circle of light and music that began in 1909 in Spokane’s former Natatorium Park.
Cindy and Drew Perry caught the last day of this season’s Carrousel rides Sunday, bringing seven small guests from the South Hill downtown for their daughter’s birthday party.
It was cold and snowy outside, but warm and inviting inside the Carrousel building. Christmas carols played on the organ, and the scent of popcorn filled the air.
Evarosa Perry, who turns 5 on Tuesday, rode a white horse in her plaid taffeta dress and black Mary Janes, surrounded by her preschool friends and cousins in their party clothes. Her long dark hair flowed behind her as the Carrousel whirled by.
“She’s been really excited about this party. We came today because we knew the Carrousel was closing,” said her mother, Cindy Perry.
Rory Fees, Evarosa’s 4-year old cousin, straddled another glass-eyed steed and clung to the brass pole in her pink and mauve party dress, a Christmas gift from her grandparents. The children sported pink paper birthday hats for the occasion.
When the Carrousel slowed to a halt, the partygoers unbuckled and dismounted. “It was fun!” Evarosa said. “Now we’re going to feed the ducks!”
An Idaho toddler also got his first ride on Sunday.
Cheryl and Neil Engle brought 18-month-old Shire Engle from their home in Coeur d’Alene. He rode twice.
“He was smiling so big. It was a huge hit,” his father said.
Neil Engle had never seen Spokane’s Carrousel before.
But Cheryl Engle recalled her first ride, as a 6-year-old visiting from Alaska 25 years ago.
“The only thing I remembered about Spokane was the Carrousel,” she said.
“It’s the hidden gem of Spokane; you don’t know about it if you just drive by on the freeway.”
Spokane nearly lost the Looff Carrousel after Natatorium Park closed in 1968.
All the park’s other rides were sold, and several cities offered to buy the hand-carved, ornate merry-go-round designed by immigrant woodcarver Charles I.D. Looff in his Rhode Island workshop.
But several Spokane leaders and citizens stepped up to save the cherished ride, according to a historical account inside the Carrousel building.
William S. Fearn of the city’s parks department launched the “Save Spokane’s Merry-Go-Round” campaign, and enough money was raised for the Parks and Recreation Foundation to buy it.
During the planning for Expo ‘74, a permanent place for the ride was found in the new Riverfront Park, a green urban refuge carved out of a tangle of former railway trestles and industrial buildings.
The Carrousel building was donated by Frances Wasmer and the Carrousel, which had been dismantled, was restored by Bill Oliver, the former Natatorium Park manager.
The Carrousel was dedicated on May 8, 1975, at its new Riverfront Park location.
It has served the city since, closing only for its annual winter maintenance.
And after nearly 100 years, it’s mostly still the original ride, except for a few glass eyes, organ mechanisms and horses’ tails.