Pottstown goals ride on a carousel

April 20--George Wausnock was attending a home improvement show when he noticed parents putting their children on a miniature carousel outside Pottstown'sSunnybrook Ballroom.

It was a chilly March day, and still parents glowed with pride as their giggling kids rode the hobby horses.

"What would happen if we had a genuine amusement park carousel in Pottstown," Wausnock wondered. "It could be a real catalyst to economic revitalization in downtown Pottstown."

A decade later, The Carousel at Pottstown occupies a former welding shop adjacent to the town park and at the entrance to Pottstown'sHistoric District.

The menagerie of 50 wooden horses, tigers and rams stand in silence, poised to dance to the merry-go-round sound of a Wurlitzer 125 band organ.

"It's about 90 percent complete," said Wausnock, 74, a retired insurance broker who envisions a carousel's brass ring turning to gold for Pottstown.

The project still needs about $500,000 to update and enlarge the building, a cinder block structure at 30 W. King St., to accommodate amenities such as a restaurant and gift shop. Organizers are hoping to get funding from the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

The overall cost is projected at $2.5 million, raised largely from donations, sponsorships and grants.

An auction of antiques and collectibles to benefit the carousel will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m. in The Third Street Gallery, 132 E. Third St., Pottstown.

With any luck, Wausnock said, the 109-year-old merry-go-round could begin running by October 2015.

Carousel's storied past

Built in 1905, the Pottstown carousel is the ninth of 94 manufactured by the Philadelphia Toboggan Co. between 1904 and 1941. Little is known about its early days, but Wausnock says it ran at amusement parks in California and Ohio.

Company records indicated it was twice restored at the Philadelphia factory. Originally the animals were stationary, but one of the restorations installed the mechanism that allows them to move.

The carousel, PTC #9, performed its swan song at Twin Grove Amusement Park near Pine Grove, Schuylkill County. The carousel was one of the most popular features at the park, which closed in 2000 after 70 years in operation.

"One of our directors said they knew where there was a carousel," Wausnock recalled. "It had been stored in a building in Pine Grove."

The original animal figures had been sold off as antiques, but the flooring, superstructure and power plant were intact.

The Pottstown Historical Society, of which Wausnock was president, put up $25,000 to purchase the classic merry-go-round.

Rebirth of a classic

An array of exotic creatures reinvigorated the classic ride. A Trojan horse, named for the Pottstown High School Trojans, is leader of the pack. Suited in armor, the wooden steed harkens to the era of knights.

Zebras, lions, antlered deer and even giraffes -- all saddled for riders -- reside on the merry-go-round. The most exotic is the Hippocampus, a mythical sea horse propelled by a mermaid's tail. Of Greek derivation, it is part horse and part sea monster.

Bob Roebuck of Pottstown, who is blind, sanded the figures in preparation for painting, and dozens of Pottstown area artists dressed them in an array of colorful and exotic patterns.

Each of the animals has a name, chosen by individuals and businesses who paid $2,500 to $6,000 to sponsor them. Two of the horses are named for Barbaro and Smarty Jones, Pennsylvania racehorses who won the Kentucky Derby.

Elaine Bauer, a Boyertown portrait artist, recreated Victorian-era paintings that adorn the ride's superstructure. Done in oil, the paintings were adapted from photographs supplied by sponsors.

Student volunteers from Boyertown High School and Brien Heisey, a Douglassville businessman, restored decorative stenciling on the ride.

About 10,000 volunteer hours have gone into the project over 10 years, organizers said.

Catalyst for growth

Wausnock, who's president of The Carousel at Pottstown's board of directors, believes the project is ideally located to stimulate economic development and revitalization.

Adjacent to the Pottstown campus of Montgomery County Community College, it borders the town's historic district. Pottsgrove Manor, built in 1752 by ironmaster John Potts, for whom Pottstown in named, is a block away on King Street. Memorial Park, the town's prime recreation area, is across the street.

Also, the Schuylkill River Trail, a biking and hiking path that runs from Pottstown to Reading, is nearby. And the proposed Colebrookdale Tourist Railroad, a line that would link Pottstown to Boyertown, is about two blocks from the carousel.

"We believe the carousel will attract visitors to downtown businesses, Wausnock said, "and enhance the town's quality of life."

Bev Reber, a board member, believes the carousel will create magical memories for a new generation as it did for generations past. Merry-go-rounds like PTC #9 were pervasive in amusement parks prior to World War II.

Growing up in New Jersey, Reber rode the carousel in Asbury Park.

"I couldn't wait for summer to come to ride the carousel," said Reber, 66, a retired Pottstown teacher. "I can still remember riding it and reaching for the brass ring."

Contact Ron Devlin: 610-371-5030 or [email protected].

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