1927 Dentzel Carousel to be Donated

[johnjniehaus]

Some of you know that I relocated to Seattle Washington last year and I became involved in a restoration group of a 1927 Dentzel Carousel formerly located in Chester, WV. We have more volunteers now than ever before (about 100 people in total involved) however we have hit a major hurdle. The carousel mechanism is currently stored in a warehouse that got condemned. The roof collapsed in one section and we think the carousel needs to be moved before next winter. We don't have the funds to pay for storage space and the local governments that were interested in eventually having the carousel on city park property were hit hard last year with floods and are no longer interested. The carousel is a complete Dentzel mechanism and is missing all the horses as they were sold off when the carousel originally closed back in West Virginia. More information can be found on the website but I'm hoping that someone somewhere on these forums might know of other government entities or non profits that would be interested in carrying this vision forward? I appreciate any and all leads to helping this incredible machine find a new home. 

https://www.snoqualmievalleycarousel.org/

[johnjniehaus]

These are pictures when it was still in Chester, WV

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I hope someone can take it on, especially with it being such a beautiful carousel! While there's nothing I can contribute to the project, I'm curious about something: does it need to stay somewhere in the area or could it potentially go almost anywhere in the US? Best of luck to you all!

[johnjniehaus]

8 minutes ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

I hope someone can take it on, especially with it being such a beautiful carousel! While there's nothing I can contribute to the project, I'm curious about something: does it need to stay somewhere in the area or could it potentially go almost anywhere in the US? Best of luck to you all!

At this point it can be moved anywhere as long as they have the resources to transport it. We estimate it would take at least 2 if not 3 semi trailers to move as the mechanism and all the decorative panels are quite large and take up space. 

[johnjniehaus]

Some of the pieces we've been working on. The color scheme is attempting to be faithful to the original colors based on what we can tell - it's very faded. I personally think the color combinations of this carousel will make for one of the most beautiful Dentzel machines. I love how bright colors and muted colors blend and the gold paint (as gold leaf was not in the budget) really pops! I also included some of the pictures of unrestored pieces just to show how much they really pop after the plaster is repaired and given two coats of paint.