A beloved local tourist attraction is temporarily out of service
The Slater Park Looff Carousel was built 126 years ago. It began its journey in New York before making a permanent home in the City of Pawtucket, Rhode Island 101 years ago. That's right. When you visit this carousel in Pawtucket, you are seeing it exactly as it stood more than a century ago.
This carousel is considered a national treasure and one of the finest examples of American carousel art. It is one of this country's most outstanding examples of richly decorated, turn-of-the-century wooden carousels. If you having never visited Pawtucket's Slater Park, which is only 10 miles from my home, I strongly suggest you make time to visit this year.
According to Wikipedia:
The Looff Carousel in Pawtucket, Rhode Island is a historic carousel which was built in 1895 by Charles I. D. Looff. The carousel was originally located in a carnival called Lee Funland in upstate, New York. The carousel was relocated to its present location at Slater Park in 1910 where it continues to operate.
Not so fast, Wikipedia. The Slater Park Carousel is not currently operational. It has been closed over the last several weeks, including Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately, a motor that is essential to the operation of the carousel has broken. Hopefully, it will be repaired soon. At least, that's the plan.
In 1910 the City of Pawtucket leased a small lot just southeast of the Daggett House to John Walker of Providence, a noted carousel concessionaire. Walker quickly erected a ten-sided wooden canopy and had the Looff carousel moved from New York to Pawtucket. The carousel began operation in Slater Park by July 1910. Locals referred to the site as "The Darby Horses".
The most recent post from the Slater Park Carousel official Facebook page alerts potential visitors that the beloved local tourist attraction is not in service:
It is unfortunate, but we have been advised that the repairs to the carousel's motor have not been completed and therefore, will be unable to open this weekend (6/5 and 6/6).
It's particularly unfortunate that the Slater Park Carousel has been non-operational since late May since they only opened for the season on May 1. When they did open on the first day of May, it was with a laundry list of COVID precautions in place, including masks and temperature checks.
Additionally, the City of Pawtucket planned to operate the carousel only on weekends and close during inclement weather.
It remains to be seen what rules will remain in place once the carousel has been fixed given the recent changes in the CDC guidelines regarding using masks and social distancing. These days, things are rapidly changing.
A rare hand-carved wooden lion seems to be frozen mid-roar in the above photo, which I took on a trip to the Loof Carousel at Slater Park when the ride was still functional.
This is the view from just outside the entrance to the building that houses the Slater Park Carousel. From outside, you can hear the music from the organ and feel the movement of the air as the carousel rotates faster and faster.
You can even hear the squeals of adults and children alike as they cling to the pole running through their carousel horse of choice and try not to fall off or look scared.
The carousel features a functioning North Tonawanda Military band organ, two chariots, forty-four standing horses, and six menagerie animals (including a camel, three dogs, a giraffe, and a lion).
I was fortunate to visit the Slater Park Carousel when it was still fully operational, and I took pictures of as many of the century-old hand-carved wooden animals as I could. During my visit, I was able to capture several of the horses as well as a St. Bernard dog, the giraffe, and the lion with my iPhone.
You can see the giraffe on the left-hand side of the following photo.
#HiddenGems