Carousel will turn later than usual
Soggy conditions in Port Dalhousie have hampered construction projects in Lakeside Park and caused a delay to the seasonal opening of the carousel.
The Lakeside Park Carousel remained surrounded by orange sandbags Tuesday, a few days before the five-cent ride would normally be filled with children.
“They’re calling for some warmer and drier temperatures this next week, so hopefully things will firm up so that we can open on June 3,” said Katherine Nelson-Riley of Friends of the Carousel.
“If we tried anything right now, all it would be is a muddy mess.”
High lake levels and intense rainfall earlier this month saturated the ground around the more than century-old merry-go-round, leaving it surrounded by mucky conditions.
But the rain also meant construction projects at Lakeside Park — including re-aligned walkways to the carousel — couldn’t be completed by Victoria Day weekend as scheduled.
Acting director of parks, recreation and culture services Phil Cristi said there isn’t a paved walkway to access the carousel from the parking lot or the beach because the concrete couldn’t be poured.
Cristi said the city doesn’t want people getting to the carousel in less than ideal situations or, in some cases, unsafe conditions if there’s a washout.
Plus, he said the city wants to protect the carousel.
“Can you imagine muddy shoes and boots hopping on the carousel? All things considered, we just feel better delaying it.”
Nelson-Riley said even during regular seasons, the wear and tear on the antique carousel is a challenge. Sand blows in, grommets on jeans create scratches and the
shear enormity of visitors takes its toll.
“Those characters are already taking quite a lot of wear and tear every single season, because we generally have 230,000 to 300,000 riders per season on that carousel,” she said.
Volunteers from Friends of the Carousel work September to April on restoring and freshening up the ride.
This past winter they rebuilt the carved legs on some of the animals, which take a beating from people stepping on them, painted the carousel floor and re-painted the animals.
Nelson-Riley’s been to the park on an almost daily basis to keep her eye on the carousel building, which is in an active construction site.
“We haven’t had any water breach in and it has receded a bit, but there is more rain in the forecast,” she said. “With the water levels the way they are, we just can’t take any chances.”
Cristi said if the conditions improve and the carousel can open before June 3, it will.
The city must be patient like everybody else.
“The sandbags are still there. The construction site is still the construction site. Until Mother Nature co-operates, our hands are kind of tied,” Cristi said.
The delay could be seen as a minor inconvenience though compared to measures that had to be taken due to a threat of Lake Ontario flooding in 1973. The carousel was temporarily put into storage and many of the animals were then damaged by fire.
kwalter@postmedia.com