Carousel work under way

For those keeping score at home, work on the Coeur d’Alene Carousel at Memorial Field has begun. That re-bar work that walking partner Greg Lee and I saw on our walk Monday was the start of carousel construction. Cement will be poured soon. This, according to Coeur d’Alene Carousel President Carri Fraser. I just got off the phone with Carri. She said that steel will begin going up in a week to 10 days, before the general contractor steps in. The project will take 6 to 8 weeks from there. Due to unexpected costs & an endowment of $60,000 required by the city, Carri told Huckleberries that the Carousel Foundation is about $70,000 to $80,000 short from completion of fund-raising. Carousel supporters are tentatively planned a “sneak peek week” to introduce the carousel to the public when the project is finished.

Meanwhile, she said, members of the community can contribute to the final push for fund-raising by purchasing tiles — $250, $500 and $1,000 — which will become part of an etched porcelain floor that will tell a story of the carousel and community. You can learn more about the carousel, the project and fund-raising by going to the Coeur d’Alene Carousel web site here.