We have waited since Levi was little (they began planning and working on this project the year he was born) to see the finished carousel in Albany, and it just opened last week!
A vintage 1909 Dentzel Carousel Corporation mechanism was donated to the project and volunteers have spent more than a decade carving and painting the menagerie. Each animal takes 1,000 – 1,500 hours to carve! Another 400 – 700 hours to paint. And then they sit for six months to dry! Completing one animal costs between $5,000 – $10,000. The carousel will eventually hold 52 animals (and another 11 replacement and seasonal animals), but it opened with somewhere around 30. [See paintings and descriptions of the animals here.] We have visited the studio workshop several times over the years to see the animals in progress.
The building itself is beautiful. Light and open.
We met Shannon, Ben, Rilla, Sweden, Lindsay, Bob, Daphne, Baby Avonlea, Nana Debi, and my parents for our inaugural visit.
So lovely.
Hope is a baby Masai giraffe, and at 7’6″ she is the tallest animal on the Carousel.
Baby Avonlea was delighted to ride.
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