Why should we conserve an old carousel?

Two reasons:

First, the Chippewa Park Carousel provides Thunder Bay citizens with a link to our collective past. The experience of riding the horses is one that’s been enjoyed by virtually all residents of the city for over 80 years. Generations of happy memories are embedded in the horses, memories that are re-lived again and again.

Second, the Carousel is a treasure in heritage terms. How much so was discovered only recently. It began when a visiting team from the Royal Ontario Museum happened to spot the Carousel while inspecting other buildings at the park. They were quick to point out its potential heritage value and recommended that experts be brought in to do a formal assessment.

North American Folk-Art expert, Frederick Fried, was enlisted from New York to do the evaluation. In 1988, he confirmed its heritage value and outlined its historical roots: it was built in 1915 by the C.W. Parker Carousel company and was one of only three of its kind left in the world. As a result of these findings and the efforts of Donna Gilhooly the Carousel was designated as a Heritage Facility in 1991.

Years later, The Friends of Chippewa Park (TFOCHP) was formed and in 2017 approached Donna Gilhooly, the former manager of Recreation for the City of Thunder Bay, to help plan for a much-needed restoration. She was joined by Bonnie McNulty as Co-Chair and the Save Our Carousel Committee was created. A grant of $100,000 was obtained from the Canada 150 program celebrating our country’s 150 anniversary to get the ball rolling.

The first step was to engage an expert who could explain how to restore the various components of the Carousel to factory & heritage standards. After checking with a select group of organizations who had recently restored their carousels, Lisa Parr of Old Parr’s Inc. of Illinois was hired for the work.

Ms. Parr conducted two site visits to examine the carousel and its features; once while it was set up and operating, and once again during the restoration process. She created a restoration and conservation manual that has guided both contractors and volunteers in the proper methods of heritage restoration.

The manual provides precise instructions on the how to restore a carousel along with details of the materials to be used. It took weeks, for example, to identify a stripping chemical available in Canada that would match Parr’s specifications to ensure that applying it to remove the old paint would not damage the wood structure of the horses. The manual identifies the type of paint to be used, and the techniques to be used when applying it.

Ms. Parr created individual ink sketches of each horse and coloured each sketch to provide the specific directions to the painters as to the colour scheme to be used. As a final step in the creation of the conservation and restoration plan, an ongoing maintenance plan was submitted to assist Parks and Open Spaces in ensuring that this living museum is protected for future generations.   Check out www.saveourcarousel.com.

In order to ensure that all of the work on the Carousel met the requirements and principles of heritage restoration a sub committee – Heritage and Records Advisory Committee – was created to provide oversee all decisions.

The Save Our Carousel Committee submitted the conservation plan to the City of Thunder Bay’s Heritage Advisory Committee and received their endorsement providing further protection into the future.

Next week: The Community Responds