-- forwarded message, please reply to sender and MMD --

 [ Bette Largent is the staff restorationist for the Spokane 1909
 [ Looff carousel.  I wrote to her about the situation with the
 [ Whalom Park carousel, reported by Mark Chester in MMD 000212.
 [ See his expanded story at http://www.carousels.com/whalompark.htm
 [ -- Robbie

Selling the carousel doesn't sound like it is to be a cure for Whalom
Park's marketing problem but a means of postponing the inevitable.  The
ultimate best outcome would be for the carousel to be sold intact and
not broken up.  A carousel is not meant to be individual components,
but rather a total work made up of each component.

Carousel maintenance is a problem only if you don't have a policy of
continuing maintenance.  Just as owning a car, if you don't take care
of it's needs, it will eventually be expensive to repair or replace.
There are also many people available who would provide advice and
assistance just for "the asking".

> It sure sounds like another sad scene from some old melodrama
> named "Tradition versus the Bill Collector."  What's the odds
> of a happy outcome?

It takes only one person to believe that the carousel can be saved
as a total machine.  Historically it was just the "power of one" who
turned the tide on saving any carousel!

> Does the Looff carousel in Riverfront Park, Spokane, generate
> enough revenue for proper maintenance of the carousel, after
> the recurring operating expenses are paid?

The Spokane Carousel is a result of such a situation. It was "pulled"
out of the auction until the community could raise the funds to buy it.
The Parks Director went out on a limb and asked the city council to
purchase the machine and then the community raised the funds to restore
it and build the present facility.  However, it was not a big money
maker until the Spokane Parks Department began to market it.

Since the carousel is owned and operated by the city all funds
generated must go into the city's General Fund.  Maintenance and upkeep
must be budgeted back from this General Fund.  If these funds are not
used in one year, they can't not be carried over into the next.  Money
for emergency main bearing repair and band organ restoration was
provided by the Park Foundation with donated money designated for the
carousel.  This fund is not always "flush" so such work must be done on
a limited basis.  General maintenance is done when allowable in the
total Park budget.

In Hampton, Virgina they consider the city owned carousel as being a
contributor to the "quality of life".  They fund it not as a profit-
maker but as a asset of the city.  They have an excellent policy on
it's maintenance and preservation, including the band organ.

I do not recommended the Spokane way of public ownership.  The best
would be a separate Board that governs the carousel.  The profits
generated could then be controlled to insure that the carousel, band
organ, and facility are always maintained.  We still have a very
successful and profitable carousel nevertheless, which is much better
that the alternative.

> Will there ever be funds to finish the work planned for the
> Ruth organ?

I have not given up on the completed restoration of the Ruth band
organ.  We have created a support group to raise funds for such an
event.  Our Park Foundation can hold or channel dollars but can not
actively raise funds.  Every carousel should have a support group
even if it is privately owned.

Bette Largent
http://www.carousel.net/largent/