Seaside Heights Carousel Closing April 7 For Repairs, Move

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — If you're planning to ride the carousel at Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, you better plan to hop on now. The historic carousel will be closing the weekend of April 7.

The Dr. Floyd L. Moreland Dentzel/Looff Carousel is slated to be disassembled and later reconstructed at what will be its new home at the north end of the Seaside Heights boardwalk.

"Take your last ride on the beloved Moreland Carousel at its present Casino Pier location through Sunday, April 7th," Casino Pier announced on its Facebook page.

The move was part of an agreement between Casino Pier, owned by the Storino family, and the Borough of Seaside Heights that resulted in the controversial land swap that gave Casino Pier a 1.37-acre parcel of beachfront at Sheridan Avenue. The borough got the carousel and a parking lot at Carteret and Sampson avenues, along with a 67-acre piece of property on the west side of the Garden State Parkway in Toms River.

But the deal wound up in court, with environmental groups challenging the borough's decision to give what they viewed as public land to a private developer, under state Green Acres rules. An appeals court later upheld the swap. The New Jersey Supreme Court in January refused to hear an appeal of the decision, NJ.com reported. Records from the swap were subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney's office in Newark last summer, but the outcome of that investigation is not clear.

The Dentzel/Looff Carousel is valued at between $2.3 million and $2.5 million, according to a report in the Asbury Park Press. It was built in 1910 and moved to Seaside Heights in 1932, and is one of four remaining wooden carousels in New Jersey and one of about 150 still operating in the United States, from an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 that existed during their heyday, Seaside Heights Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz said in a 2016 report. The Storinos had planned to sell the carousel because maintenance had become so expensive, the Press report said.

The borough sought to preserve the carousel because of its historic nature, a move that was supported by the state Department of Environmental Protection, Vaz said at the time.

The work to repair the carousel began earlier this month, with the removal of its Wurlitzer Band Organ,which was sent to York, Pennsylvania, for repairs, the Asbury Park Press reported.

The carousel will remain in the Casino Pier arcade until the fall, at which time it will be disassembled and moved to a warehouse for restoration while a new building is constructed at the Carteret-Sampson avenue property to house it, NJ.com reported. The borough was seeking a $1.5 million Green Acres grant for the building.

The restoration of the carousel will need to be paid for through private fundraising, Vaz said in an Asbury Park Press report. The hope is to have the carousel operating again by the summer of 2020, the report said.

The restoration would not be the first. According to an Asbury Park Press report, the carousel bears the name of Dr. Floyd L. Moreland because he oversaw a 1980s restoration of the then-badly deteriorated carousel. The report said it also was damaged in a fire in 1928 and repaired before it was moved to Seaside Heights.

Casino Pier announced the pending closure on its Facebook page, saying, "In conjunction with the Borough of Seaside Heights, we have determined to cease operating the Magical Carousel at Casino Pier so that Borough officials can start taking steps to relocate this historic and timeless amusement ride. The Carousel will be closing April 7th and we look forward to seeing the Carousel reopen in the future at its new home on the north end of The Classic American Boardwalk."

The pier is open Saturdays and Sundays at noon.

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