Seaport Village Carousel
The Seaport Village Carousel, also known as the Fair Park Looff Carousel, is a historic wooden carousel in the western wing of Seaport Village in San Diego, California. It was built by noted carver Charles I. D. Looff, who also constructed the Santa Monica Pier. The carousel costs a small fee to ride and contains 54 animals and 2 chariots. It is owned by the Perron family.
History
Charles I. D. Looff hand-carved the carousel in Brooklyn, New York City, in 1895. It was not until 1904 when it was opened, however, when it debuted at Fair Park, in Dallas, Texas. It was not until the it was moved to Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California, in 1958 when the carousel had rounding boards and scenery panels installed. These were designed in a style reminiscent of the 1930s. It moved again in 1967 to an amusement park in Spanaway, Washington, where it stayed until 1982.The Perron family had bought the carousel in September 1979 in an auction and transported it to Willamette Center in Portland, Oregon, in 1984. The Perrons converted all the figures on the carousel to Looff-made ones, as they had previously been made by other manufacturers. It moved to Lloyd Center in 1988. Historic Carousels, Inc. restored the carousel in 1991 to prepare it for the AmeriFlora '92 exhibition in Columbus, Ohio. It was later relocated to Burbank Town Center in Burbank, California, in 1997. The carousel moved to its current location in Seaport Village in 2004. It replaced the Broadway Flying Horses Carousel, which had been at the location since 1977.