![]() | This article needs to be updated.(March 2024) |
C. W. Parker Four-Row Park Carousel | |
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
The carousel in 2009 | |
Location | 1492 Jantzen Beach Center, Portland, Oregon |
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Built | c. 1904 [1] |
Built by | Parker, Charles Wallace |
MPS | Oregon Historic Wooden Carousels TR |
NRHP reference No. | 87001381 [2] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | August 26, 1987 [1] |
Removed from NRHP | January 4, 2008 [3] |
The Jantzen Beach Carousel, also known as the C. W. Parker Four-Row Park Carousel, [3] is a carousel formerly installed at Portland, Oregon's Jantzen Beach, in the United States.
The carousel was built circa 1904 [1] by C. W. Parker in Abilene, Kansas, for use at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. [4] It was later moved to Venice Beach, California, where it began operating in 1921. [4] In 1928, the carousel was repossessed and its parts were relocated to Portland for the opening of Jantzen Beach Amusement Park. [5] Since then, the park became a shopping mall, Jantzen Beach Center. The carousel was removed during the mall's $50 million renovation in 2012, [6] and reportedly remains in storage on site. [7]
In 1987, the carousel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with four others. [1] However, it was delisted in 2008 because of plans for relocation to the Portland Children's Museum, [3] [8] which never came to fruition. The carousel has been designated "endangered" by the Architectural Heritage Center. [8] In 2012, it was included in the Historic Preservation League of Oregon's list of Oregon's Most Endangered Places. [9]
In 2015, the mall's owner, a company called Edens, said the carousel was being "safely stored in a camera-monitored, climate-controlled" building at the shopping center. However, in early 2017, The Oregonian reported that the current owner and location of the carousel were unknown; Edens said the carousel was sold to Kimco Realty, while the latter company claimed its purchase of Jantzen Beach Center included the land and buildings, but not the carousel. [10]
On September 7, 2017, it was made public that the carousel had been donated in spring 2017 to Restore Oregon, a nonprofit organization; the donation had been kept private until the transfer was complete. [11] In 2023, The Astorian reported that Astoria was being considered as a permanent location. A final decision by Restore Oregon is expected by September 15. [12]
On March 5, 2023, Restore Oregon sent a call for a permanent home for the carousel, stating that it was not the intention of the organization to house the carousel permanently. [13] Later that year in September, Restore Oregon announced that the carousel had found a new home at the Neon Sign Museum in The Dalles, Oregon, who will begin the construction of a new pavilion to house the carousel. [14]