Ross Park Carousel: Construction to Start for “New Home”

Construction is set to begin on a new building for Binghamton's historic Ross Park carousel.

The long-delayed restoration project for the century-old merry-go-round now is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Ross Park Zoo on Monday announced that the city's project to construct the "new home" for the carousel will start this week.

During the construction work, there will be limited access to the area around the playground near the park pavilions.

Zoo executive director Phillip Ginter told WNBF News "it's exciting to see some movement on the project."

Planning for the carousel restoration started in 2010. The city was awarded $500,000 in state funds in 2015 to refurbish the merry-go-round and to build a new enclosure.

The 59 jumping horses and two chariots were removed from Ross Park in the fall of 2022. The components were shipped off to a Connecticut restoration company.

Construction of the new building for the carousel could not move forward until the city received approval from the state Historic Preservation Office. That authorization came last spring.

Ginter hopes the restored carousel operation could be assembled at its new spot in the park in time for holiday season rides later this year. He said he's keeping his "fingers crossed" that that will happen.

WNBF NEWS VIDEO: The old Ross Park carousel site as it stood in June 2024.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or call (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.