Historic CMZoo carousel built in 1926 reopens June 13

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo will reopen its historic carousel on June 13, 2024. The carousel was shut down in July of 2023 and safely stored away to allow for a new road through the Zoo, a new South America exhibit, a new giraffe habitat, and the International Center for the Care and Conservation of Giraffe.

The carousel, which was built in 1926 and has been a feature at CMZoo since 1937, is a classic county-fair-style unit, designed to be broken down using basic hand tools and moved in pieces to another location—despite weighing (in total) 7 tons. The deconstruction process takes about 8 hours, said Zoo officials.

“It’s not like carousels you see at traveling fairs these days, which just fold up and go,” says Dave Ruhl, executive vice president at CMZoo. “It is designed to be taken apart, piece by piece, by hand. We are dedicated to maintaining this carousel because it has been with our community for so long, so we’re very careful when we do it.”

Ruhl said that CMZoo worked with a “carousel horse expert” in Larkspur who repaired cracks and touched up paint on the horses. “Most of the horses have been restored, and they look great,” Ruhl said. “We also got the carousel organ refurbished, so it works again for the first time in around five years. We can’t wait for everyone to see it!”

The carousel’s new location is near the Rocky Mountain goats. There is a place near the carousel for families and guests to line up as they wait for a ride. The new location is safely away from the road and provides natural shade.

Thursday, June 13, at 10:30 a.m., begins the official reopening, and there will be free carousel rides from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with Zoo admission.

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