LOS ANGELES — Since 1937, the hand-carved horses of the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round have been spinning at 13 miles an hour.
That adds up to a lot of miles, but the COVID-19 pandemic shut the popular family attraction down for a year and a half.
For Rosemary West, seeing the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round operating again after a long pandemic closure is a real spirit-lifter. She took over the merry-go-round 38 years ago and still marvels at its handcrafted beauty, which she says puts it in a class all its own.
“If you look at most carousel horses, they have limited amounts of carving,” she said.
Each horse is unique like the fiery "Diablo," which is one of West's favorites.
“He is original to the machine, one of the most unique horses,” she said. “He has goat’s eyes.”
As the story goes, Walt Disney sat on a bench marveling at the carousel and was inspired to build his own theme park.
“The history is interesting,” West said. “Just the horses, particularly, speak to me because they are such beautiful pieces of carving.”
West explained that the carousel horses were made to be ridden, and she was sad to see them sit dormant. But maintenance continued during the year-and-a-half pandemic closure so that the weather and elements could not get a foothold.
Over the years, the park’s wildlife has nibbled away at the horses’ tails so efforts are being made to replace them, which is a costly endeavor as they are made from real horse hair.
Kevin Cartwright recently joined the team helping to maintain and restore the carousel. Cartwright is a pipe organ expert and oversees the carousel's band organ, which of course is essential to the experience. He maintains other pipe organs throughout California, such as the one at Disney Hall. When he finds and an out of tune trumpet pipe, he makes some quick adjustments so the sound is just right.
“Tuning is always a challenge because being outdoors, the temperature is constantly changing and organs are temperature sensitive,” Cartwright said.
Cartwright is also like the carousel DJ, choosing and loading the paper rolls that the band organ uses to play its melodies of which there are hundreds.
As Griffith Park is celebrates its 125th anniversary, people are drawn in by the sounds of the carousel. Carol is a hiker who has been coming to Griffith Park for decades and she loves visiting the merry-go-round, calling it a true SoCal gem.
“Can you imagine all the butts that have sat on those horses, how much history this has?” Carol said with a laugh. “How many families have come through here? So yeah, it's a big deal.”
"We have to just take care of [the merry-go-round] as it is and, hopefully, keep people coming," added West.
