Carousel celebrates 100 years in 2014 and 40 years in Canberra

The Civic Merry-Go-Round in the centre of Canberra celebrates 100 years on 13 March 2014, with the last 40 years in its present site.

Herbert Thomson of Armadale, Victoria, famous for designing and building the first Australian steam car in 1896, constructed the carousel in 1914 for German showman Anton Weniger to replace his pony-powered carousel – at a cost of 7,000 pounds. He imported the organ and the 52 hand-carved wooden horses and two elephants from Germany, and the golden twisted brass upright poles from Scotland. Each of the horses has a ram's head (or German folklore animal head) at the back of the saddle, facing backwards. Under the canopy is a series of paintings by Melbourne artist William P. Plowman (including bisons and American Indians, a ski scene, and a horse-and-hound hunt). It is 12 metres wide, 5.25 metres high, and weighs more than 15 tonnes.

Known as Weniger’s Riding Gallery, it was installed in 1914 on the esplanade at St. Kilda, Melbourne, as part of a beachside amusement park. At the time it was the largest and most modern carousel in Australia, famed for rotating on the biggest ball bearing in the country. It travelled to rural country fairs for several years, before returning to St. Kilda. Despite having lived in Australia for 10 years, in January 1916, during the First World War (1914-1918), Weniger was detained as an enemy alien until the end of the war.

In 1957 MacDonald’s Carnival Amusements purchased and operated the carousel until 1973 when the amusement park was demolished. The Department of the Capital Territory purchased it for the people of Canberra at auction on September 28, 1973, for $40,000. The Carousel Organ Restoration Group restored the 69 key pipe organ (currently the music is not working and the organ and glockenspiel are stored in a separate site). Volunteers from the Australian National University’s Research School of Physical Sciences restored the steam engine in the centre of the carousel. Restorations were also conducted by staff of the Australian War Memorial and students from the Canberra College of Advanced Education (now the University of Canberra). The steam engine is no longer in use, but remains within the carousel. It is now operated by an electric motor.

After renovations, the Civic Merry-Go-Round and its pavilion was officially opened on Canberra Day in Petrie Plaza (its current site in Canberra Mall) on 13 March 1974. This March will be its 40^th year at the site.

It was operated by the Penney family from 1974 until July 2012. The 52 horses were named after famous racehorses, such as Phar Lap, Lord Fury, and Snowstream. Of the two elephants, the white one was called Queenie. It is currently temporarily operated by Live Experience Access Develop until a permanent operator is announced (submissions closed in December 2013 and an announcement is expected soon).

Over the past year it has undergone renovations. The tails, bridles, and stirrup leathers have been replaced, and the horses were cleaned. Gradually each of the figures will be restored on a rotational basis by the ACT government.

The carousel is currently the second largest surviving functioning merry-go-round in Australia.


(http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/giddy-up-iconic-canberra-merrygoraound-seeks-ringmaster-20140120-3154i.html#izxzz2uJV9qC9X  

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).