Login | September 10, 2025
Well-known company breathes new life into old carousels
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: September 25, 2012
Carousels have provided a source of enjoyment to both the young and old in the United States for well over 100 years, but one Ohio native has made it his business to restore and maintain these unique attractions.
“The ability to use my skills to restore these wonderful machines so that everyone else can have as much fun riding them as I have putting them together is amazing,” said Todd W. Goings, who now owns Carousels and Carvings in Marion.
His journey into the business began in 1989 when the Caledonia, Ohio cabinet maker heard about work that was being done on a carousel in the Mansfield area.
“I was curious as to what this carousel work was all about,” said Goings.
He was hired by Carousel Works, beginning what would be a new and prosperous career.
“One of the projects was the restoration of an antique Dentzel frame with new hand carved figures for the carousel at Richland Park.
“A Dentzel is a type of carousel, named after German-born carousel maker Gustav Dentzel,” said Goings.
Dentzel traveled to the U.S. with a large carousel, which he set up in Philadelphia in early 1860 to test the American market, opening a carousel and cabinet workshop in Germantown at the same time.
Richland Carrousel Park opened to the public in 1991. The scenery panels on top of the ride depict past and present attractions in Mansfield, and since it is in a heated pavilion, it is open all year.
“It is still one of my favorite projects,” said Goings. “I continue to perform maintenance work on it.”
For the next few years, he continued with the company restoring machines, doing some animal carving and assisting in the disassembly, assembly and repair of various carousels.
From 1993 to 1997, Goings was co-owner of Carousel Concepts Inc. in Marion, working out of a building on Marion-Waldo Road.
“This building had an operating carousel in it for most of that time period,” said Goings.
He opened Carousels and Carvings at 1476 Likens Rd. in August 1997. The company not only restores and maintains antique carousels, but it also designs and builds new ones, which Goings said will “stand up to the test of time, like their antique predecessors.”
In addition, Goings provides project consulting and coordination services.
Carousels do have quite a long history. The earliest depiction of one dates back to around 500 A.D. and is featured in a Byzantine bas-relief, showing riders in baskets suspended from a central pole.
While most European carousel figures are relatively static in posture, American figures are more likely to have expressive eyes and appear to be in motion. The first carousel to be seen in the United States was created in Hessville, Ohio, during the 1840s by Franz Wiesenhoffer.
“The golden age of carousels has passed,” said Goings. “It ended in the early ‘30s when the Great Depression hit. At the time, there were probably 3,000 to 5,000. Today I would say there are about 158 antique carousels up and running.”
Most of the projects Carousels and Carvings work on are outside of Ohio.
“I like restoring and fabricating the whole carousel, but I do a lot of annual maintenance and adjustments as well. Many of these machines are approaching 100 years old and the parts and pieces are still originals. You cannot buy their replacement parts at a Lowe’s store.
“The services I offer are very specialized,” said Goings. “Only a handful of companies in the entire country do this work, partially because there are not enough machines around so there is not enough work to keep a large group busy.”
In 2008, Goings’ company restored the Dentzel carousel for the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia.
“This was a great project for the company because we assembled a great group of carousel specialists from around the country to perform various activities on the carousel,” Goings said.
“Carver Ed Roth restored most of the animals, and artist Rosa Patton did paint research, restoration work and animal painting. Other painters on the project were Theresa Rollison, Lisa Parr, Lise Liepman and Adriana Roth.
“When we work on these projects, it usually takes years to complete them. Our work is not done then. We stay involved by going back and doing periodic maintenance checkups for the owners.”
Other recent restoration projects have included The Grand Carousel at Peddler’s Village in Lahaska, Pennsylvania, The Heritage Carousel in Ontario and Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park, which was built in 1922 and was a gift from Jane and David Walentas.
“Jane’s Carousel used to operate at Idora Park in Youngstown, Ohio until 1985 before the Walentas bought it,” said Goings.
While some of the work is done on location, more often the restoration takes place at Carousels and Carvings, which spans 26,000 square feet.
“The Philadelphia carousel restoration took place at our shop,” said Goings.
“I usually go out and see the carousel before I bid on it and if we get the contract we take it down or out of storage and bring it back to the shop. Most of the time parts are stacked up everywhere.”
The shop is currently home to Coney Island’s historic B&B Carousell. The city of New York purchased it from its current owner in 2005.
“The carousel had been working on Surf Avenue since the 1930s.
“It was the last wooden antique carousel on Surf Avenue in Coney Island. We took it down after the city of New York bought it and placed it in storage in New York. In 2008, we moved it from New York to our shop.”
“I did the mechanical restoration first, and now I’m working on the façade and the figures. There are 50 horses so it is not a fast job.”
The B&B is expected to be up and running in time for the 2013 season in Coney Island in a newly-constructed carousel pavilion at Steeplechase Park.
“For me the real satisfaction is seeing these carousels continue to operate and learning how and why they were put together and knowing that we helped preserve these great works for future generations to enjoy.”
Goings has also worked on carousels as far away as Saudi Arabia.
“The project had to be put into shipping containers that were loaded up on a cargo ship to be delivered to Dhahran. Two of us went over there to help install it. We had to use local help to help with the installation, and thankfully they supplied us with an interpreter.”
He is currently building a carousel for the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy in Boston.
“This carousel will have animals on it that are unique to the Boston area such as lobsters, fish and whales,” said Goings. “It will be outdoors all year round. We will be providing a specially-designed winter enclosure for this carousel.”
Over the years, Goings has expanded. When he opened Carousels and Carvings, he had about three employees, now he has 12. Still there are challenges to running a business like his.
“There is always the risk that history will repeat itself as it did during the Great Depression, leaving us with even fewer carousels.
“We were lucky during the downturn that we were already under contract for a number of jobs, but some did get put on hold. In some cases, restoration projects were scaled back to maintenance work.”
One of his biggest concerns is finding people with the skills needed to do the work.
“We do everything by hand,” said Goings. “In today’s world, wood carvers are becoming dinosaurs.”