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New Carillon Park carousel spotlights Dayton innovation

Ride features include an NCR cash register, Mike-sell’s potato chip bag.

Tracy Jones with The Carousel Works located in Mansfield, pulls the Dayton Carousel of Innovation into position so the next sweep can be attached as it takes shape Monday, Aug. 1, inside the new Heritage Center of Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship at Carillon Historical Park. The new center will be dedicated Aug. 19 and open to the public on Aug. 20.

Chris Stewart/Dayton Daily News Staff Photogra Tracy Jones with The Carousel Works located in Mansfield, pulls the Dayton Carousel of Innovation into position so the next sweep can be attached as it takes shape Monday, Aug. 1, inside the new Heritage Center of Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship at Carillon Historical Park. The new center will be dedicated Aug. 19 and open to the public on Aug. 20.

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By Dave Larsen, Staff Writer Updated 10:19 PM Monday, August 1, 2011

Children visiting Carillon Historical Park will soon be able to take a spin on a carousel that features Dayton innovation icons instead of traditional wooden horses.

Workers on Monday began installing the Dayton Carousel of Innovation, a new, wooden merry-go-round with 32 hand-carved features that include an NCR cash register, a Rubicon engine and a Mike-sell’s potato chip bag, among other local claims to fame.

“It is all hand-painted and designed to help tell Dayton stories of innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Brady Kress, president and chief executive of Dayton History, the nonprofit organization that operates Carillon Park.

The 36-foot-diameter carousel will be the centerpiece of the children’s area in the park’s new Heritage Center of Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship. The $5.5 million center opens Aug. 20 to the public.

The handicapped-accessible amusement ride was created by the Carousel Works, a Mansfield-based company that also manufactured carousels for the Los Angeles and Detroit zoos, and is currently restoring the Central Park Carousel in New York City.

“It is probably one of the most unique ones we’ve ever done,” said Kate Blakley, director of marketing for the Carousel Works.

The carousel cost about $600,000 and was created over six months by a team that included six carvers and seven artists.

The top exterior features 24 hand-painted rounding boards depicting major achievements from Dayton history. In the center is a 38-foot-long mural charting the Wright brothers’ accomplishments.

Carousel rides will cost $1. A special $75 Dayton History membership includes unlimited carousel rides, Kress said.

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