RECREATION
Carousel dream
ARCHIVE PHOTO CIRCA 1920-CENTRAL PARK, RITTERSVILLE, PA
BY DEBRA MAGRANN
Momentum builds to bring antique ride
to Port St. Lucie
Remember the days of your youth when you could
go to the amusement park and ride a horse amid
mirrors, music and lighting and not worry about a
thing? Would you bring back those happy times if
you could? Wishful thinking aside, there are a few locals who
want to do just that.
Carousel aficionados are being wooed to the possibility
of acquiring an available grand carousel and bringing it to
Florida — more specifically, to Tradition in western Port
St. Lucie.
PTC #53, as it is known among carousel buffs, is a 1920
hand-carved, merry-go-round that was originally at Central
Park in Rittersville, Pa. Named Lucy, it measures 50 feet
in diameter, is 25 feet high, weighs 20,000 pounds with a
60,000-pound load; it is a 68-horse, four-row carousel that
includes two Roman chariots and a band organ.
The drive to acquire Lucy is spearheaded by Port St. Lucie
Councilman, Ron Bowen. Lucy will be eligible for placement
on the National Register of Historical Places in 2020. It may
take long to raise the funds, obtain a site and add the peripheries
necessary to make the project handicapped accessible.
It will need a 5-foot-wide walkway, a perimeter fence and a
wheelchair adaptive lift instead of a ramp.
The amusement ride, which is being stored in Georgia, has
had some fire damage. The Friends of Lucy’s Carousel Inc.
is in the process of obtaining a nonprofit status. Bowen has
18 Port St. Lucie Magazine
>>
Built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Co. in 1920, Lucy is among the largest and finest hand-carved carousels from the golden era of amusement parks. In
all its glory, it was ornate with four rows, 68-horses, including two Roman chariots and a band organ.