RECREATION
According to the proposal, a “museum-documented
restoration…will be aesthetically and mechanically better
than the day it left the factory” at a cost of $1.3 million.
In addition, final delivery and installation, not including
state required fencing or local permits and inspections, are
factored in at $100,000.
“We just received a call from Poland wanting a carousel,”
says Brass Ring president and founder Dan Horenberger.
“There is a lot of interest from Saudi Arabia and Dubai. There
are only a handful of available carousels on the market, so
time is of the essence.”
In the ‘70s and ‘80s it was vogue to cannibalize carousels
and sell the horses piecemeal. That activity stabilized 15 years
ago. “The ones that survived intact are now in high demand
with a growing overseas market,” Horenberger says.
Lucy’s owner, Charlie Walker, fell under the spell of carousels
and pipe organs at a young age and became an authority
of them. He restored Wurlitzer band organs that provided
melodies for whirling rides. Those who knew him said he
was a real showman like P. T. Barnum and he loved anything
that entertained children.
He died at age 66. Since he left no immediate survivors,
an estate manages his property. Lucy was among the many
carousels he worked on or owned. Not quite in the category
of antique (the trade definition being an item that is 100 years >>
Although not one from Lucy, this is an armored stander from PTC #54
(1920-21), currently part of the carousel at Battleship Cove Naval Heritage
Museum, Fall River, Mass.
20 Port St. Lucie Magazine
DEBRA MAGRANN
Daniel Horenberger and Roland Hopkins III, brokers for the estate of Charlie Walker, address the group that gathered for an informal presentation.