No Christmas present: Why the Seaside Heights carousel opening has been delayed, again

Jean Mikle, Asbury Park Press
Updated ·4 min read
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SEASIDE HEIGHTS - It won't be until spring before Seaside Heights' famous carousel starts spinning again.

That's the latest word from borough officials, who had initially hoped for a fall carousel opening, and who had planned on a ceremony to coincide with Seaside Heights' annual Christmas tree lighting.

Mayor Anthony Vaz said the latest delay is due to state inspection requirements, as well as the need to install railings on the ride that have not yet been delivered.

"The state didn't inspect it yet," Vaz said of the carousel, which has been meticulously restored by Carousels & Carvings, an Ohio company that is one of only two businesses in the U.S. that restores old merry-go-rounds. "We didn't get the railings."

The carousel is tested at different speeds for several hours making sure everything works together smoothly.
The carousel is tested at different speeds for several hours making sure everything works together smoothly.

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Vaz said the latest plan is to have a grand opening ceremony in the spring.

"A lot of our people go away for the winter," he said. "They’re older, they are not going to be there. In the spring, they will be back."

During the borough's tree-lighting ceremony on Dec. 9, the carousel pavilion was open, so that the public could have a peek inside and view the refurbished ride.

It was painstakingly reassembled in the carousel house on the north end of the boardwalk during the summer and early fall. The building is located between Sampson and Carteret avenues, on a former parking lot that Seaside Heights acquired in the land swap.

Four of the Seaside Heights carousel horses were so badly damaged that they needed repair and repainting by Marie DeSaules.
Four of the Seaside Heights carousel horses were so badly damaged that they needed repair and repainting by Marie DeSaules.

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Officials here recently learned that the borough had been selected to receive the 2024 Ocean County Historic Preservation Award — presented by the county's Cultural & Heritage Commission — for the carousel's restoration. The award will be presented on May 16 at the Jay & Linda Grunin Center for the Arts at Ocean County College in Toms River. Vaz said he hopes the carousel will be operating by then.

Riding through history

The merry-go-round, formerly located at Casino Pier, includes more than 50 wooden horses, as well as two chariots, two camels, one lion and one tiger.

Built in 1910, the ride was originally located at Burlington Island Park near the Delaware River. A 1928 fire destroyed most of that amusement park but only damaged the carousel. It was fixed, disassembled and moved to Seaside Heights during the Great Depression.

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G.A. Dentzel and Charles I.D. Looff were pioneer carousel manufacturers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At least 18 figures — more than a dozen horses, a lion and a tiger — on the Seaside carousel were made by Dentzel between the 1890s and 1910 in Philadelphia, according to a carousel history compiled by the Seaside Park Historical Society. Other figures on the ride were made by Looff.

Carousel horses sit installed and ready for testing.
Carousel horses sit installed and ready for testing.

In 2014, Casino Pier's owners, the Storino family, announced that they planned to sell the merry-go-round, as ridership had declined and maintenance costs were high. Seaside Heights acquired it in 2017 after agreeing to swap 1.36 acres of beach with Casino Pier, allowing the rebuilding of the pier on the sand after it was badly damaged by Superstorm Sandy.

The ride shut down in April 2019.

Marie DeSaules repaints several of the Seaside Heights carousel horses for the refurbishment. She also worked on the project decades ago when most of the horses were repainted. 07/23/23
Marie DeSaules repaints several of the Seaside Heights carousel horses for the refurbishment. She also worked on the project decades ago when most of the horses were repainted. 07/23/23

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The restoration

The carousel is named after Ortley Beach resident Dr. Floyd L. Moreland, who oversaw the restoration of the badly deteriorated ride in the 1980s. His friends and family members spent countless weekends inside the then-unheated carousel building in the offseason, painstakingly repairing the historic structure.

Moreland has visited the refurbished carousel, viewing the horse named after him. The merry-go-round returned to the borough in July, after being refurbished at Carousels & Carvings.

Local artist Marie deSaules sanded and then repainted several of the horses that had sustained damage over the years.

The building will also house a Seaside Heights history museum, and Vaz said he hopes a portion of that museum will be open by spring as well.

Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and has been writing about local government and politics at the Jersey Shore for nearly 40 years. She's also passionate about the Shore's storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Seaside Heights carousel Christmas reopening delayed until spring