It is one of the first sights from the Garrison Avenue bridge for those driving into downtown Fort Smith. A Ferris wheel stopped running for years. It will soon spin again.

The Park at West End/ Garrison is returning to the downtown Fort Smith entertainment district.

Paige McCoy is reviving the park with the carnival-theme.

"There is so much greatness in downtown," McCoy said. "We want to bring it back."

There is a carousel that is being restored with 21 horses made in Italy originally. A waffle restaurant is going into a restored train car. Carnival games are being constructed.

McCoy has been busy getting the park ready with a new attraction, the White Buffalo Tavern where there will be beer and music in time for the May Steel Horse Rally. The weekend of April 22 is her "soft opening," to see what is working and what needs to be fine-tuned, she explained. She was busy with plans for carnival games such as picking the duck in the pond, the dunk tank, the baseball throw, darks and balloons and some of the traditional carnival midway attractions.

There has been a recent flurry of activity with construction work, painting and renovations to reopen the park. The park with the Ferris wheel and other attractions was opened in a space where fire claimed a previous building. The previous owner of the park closed it, but plans have come together for McCoy, she said.

"I really feel like God moved all of this together and the community has really been so great," McCoy said.

The McCoys bought the park at an auction in August 2021.

More:'A collection of joy': West End Park goes for $210,000 to Fort Smith family

McCoy has three children waiting for the park to open, she said, Riley, 6, Sophia, 8, and Jayden, 11.

She said the park will have plenty of security and lighting for families after dark. She said the park is needed to give downtown a needed boost.

"We want people to feel safe," she said. The Steel Horse Rally is Friday, May 5 and Saturday, May 6, and she thinks the park will be a central location for families to gather.

"I hope it can liven back up," McCoy said.

Sitting at a solid 55-feet, 2¾ inches above the park and overlooking the Arkansas River, 19,637-pound, Ferris wheel has 16 seats. It has become a fixture of downtown Fort Smit's landscape.

The Ferris wheel was built in 1940 and fully restored by Phil White of Fort Smith after he purchased it and had it moved from Rapids on the Reservoir water park in Brandon, Miss., on May 4, 2005.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: A pocket park with a carnival-theme is reopening in Fort Smith.