THUNDER BAY — The city and a local group dedicated to the upkeep of Chippewa Park should soon know who will be responsible for constructing an all-season building to house the park’s over-century-old carousel.
The city has an open call for proposals for a design and build of the structure, which will be attached to the existing park pavilion. The addition’s main purpose will be to provide a year-round, climate-controlled home for the 110-year-old C.W. Parker Carousel. According to the city’s bid documents, the carousel has been at Chippewa Park since 1934 and is one of three of its kind left in the world.
Finally having a safe place for it after years of restoration work is crucial, said Iain Angus, the secretary and project manager of the Friends of Chippewa Park.
“We were told in no uncertain terms that, once completed, we had to put it in a climate-controlled building,” Angus said. “That's to ensure that we have the carousel for another 100 years, because changes in moisture affect the joints on the horses and cause them to split apart.”
Continually dismantling and putting it back together in order to store it over the winter months also causes unnecessary wear and tear, said Werner Schwar, the supervisor of parks and open space planning for the city.
Should all go smoothly with awarding a contract (the window to bid on it closes July 3), construction is slated to start after Labour Day, Angus said, with work scheduled to be finished by June 2026. The completion date is important due to funding requirements from Heritage Canada, the city’s bid documents say.
City council and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation have also committed money to the $2.2 million project — that total, Angus said, includes the design and build, the development of a large area to house interpretive displays and contingency funding. City documents say the final product will be “a living museum,” adding that it will also “integrate the functions of the existing pavilion building with the carousel building addition and will provide the opportunity for more people to see and appreciate it throughout the year, rather than just during the summer operating season.”
The friends group has also raised over $1.2 million for the carousel’s restoration and has had significant volunteer help with that work, he said.
“All the funds are there for the construction of the building to house it,” he said.
The new carousel building is also set to include a small gift shop-type store, a ticket booth and two fully-accessible washrooms.
Angus said five companies were at a site visit that was mandatory to attend in order to place a bid back in the spring.
Schwar said landscape design to integrate the new building into the surrounding parkland — and as much of the subsequent work as possible — will be done outside of the current request for proposal and by in-house city staff.
Angus said the carousel, itself a designated heritage site, it too important not to invest in.
“We were incredibly lucky because a whole range of park staff at Chippewa over, well, since 1935 have done their best to keep the carousel alive,” he said.
“I was out at the park yesterday — there was a group of school kids, young kids, and you could just hear the squeals of delight as they rode the carousel,” he continued.
“That's what it's all about.”
