Greenway Carousel Park
On Labor Day Weekend 2013, a new, one-of-a-kind carousel will open on the Greenway across from Faneuil Hall Marketplace and Christopher Columbus Park, thanks to a number of generous donations and grants.
Greenway Carousel Park will be located between the Armenian Heritage Park to the north and the Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion to the south, a short distance from where the rental carousel has stood for the past four summers. One of the goals of this park is to create a nexus of activity in this part of the Greenway.
The gardens surrounding the Carousel will create a beautiful, welcoming new park environment with wonderful four season plantings, comfortable seating, and filtered shade. The carousel itself is a one of a kind creation with fourteen unique characters including a sea turtle, a cod, a peregrine falcon, a grasshopper, a harbor seal, a fox, a skunk, a whale, three types of butterflies, a barn owl, and a sea serpent. A total of 34 seats will be on the carousel, including a wheelchair accessible spot.
Greenway Carousel Park uses universal design principles to create access for people of all abilities.
This project could not happen without generous support from several dozen donors, including our lead donor Amalie Kass, as well as individuals, foundations, including a $1.5 M gift from Tiffany & Co. Foundation for Carousel Park improvements, businesses and one competitive grant from the Masschusetts Cultural Council. Private donations amount to 95% of the total project costs.
For the design process, the Conservancy engaged a multi-disciplinary design team including: Reed Hilderbrand for Landscape Architecture and site design, Patrick Cullina for the Urban Horticulture design, Carousels and Carvings for the carousel fabrication and Jeff Briggs of Briggs Design as the carousel artist and sculptor.
For construction, Commodore Builders is the General Contractor and ValleyCrest: Landscape Construction will be the landscape construction subcontractor.
The Conservancy has conducted an extensive public input process through agency reviews as well as public meetings. The drawings for the animals that children and adults alike will ride started as drawings of local and regional animals created by school children at nearby public schools and have been shaped into unique one of a kind creations by Jeff Briggs.
The Greenway has hosted a rental carousel for the past four seasons, and while we cannot have a rental carousel in 2013 due to construction in the park, we will be extending the carousel season to the end of December on weekends and select weekdays.
Construction began the week of March 18th, 2013 and the carousel is slated to open Labor Day Weekend. The price per ride will remain $3, but we will be offering discount books of tickets and possibly offering a season pass. We post details when they are available. There will be opportunities to host birthday parties and other special events in the carousel park area.
We will continue to update our website with construction updates as Greenway Carousel Park is built out.
Public Presentations
Community Meeting - 12/14/2011 [11 mb]
Community Meeting - 5/18/2011
Community Meeting - 10/27/2010
Community Meeting - 9/29/2010 [12 mb]
