Restored Idora Park carousel finds new home in Brooklyn

Restored Idora Park carousel finds new home in Brooklyn

YOUNGSTOWN — It’s been a long strange journey for the Idora Park carousel since it was sold at auction in 1984, the year the amusement park was shuttered.

The carousel has been transported to Brooklyn, N.Y. and has undergone more than 22 years of rehabilitation while awaiting its place in the sun again.

That time is coming soon, said Jane Walentas, the carousel’s owner and fastidious conservator.

The New Jersey-born artist devoted more than two decades to restoring every detail of the 86-year-old carousel. All the superfluous coats of paint have been stripped to reveal the original designs. Those designs were carefully preserved and recreated.

The entire electrical and lighting systems were rewired and the engine degreased.

In 2006, her opus was at last complete.

“It all looks spectacular,” said Walentas. “Everyone who sees it goes crazy for it.”

Now, the carousel is on display in a storefront in Brooklyn, waiting for its final resting spot to be determined. But it won’t have to travel far.

Walentas and her husband — a real estate developer — had selected a site for the carousel before the couple ever set eyes on the 1922 Philadelphia Toboggan model that delighted generations of children in Youngstown.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.