Weirton, W. Va. (WTRF) – Chipped paint. Marker sketches. Rusty bolts.
This children’s carousel may have seen better days, but it was never forgotten.
Weirton kids rode these horses for three decades at the Marlin shoe store on Main Street.
And now a faint but happy memory for many adults is now being rebuilt into a tangible reality once again.
“This was a huge part of so many children’s lives here.”
Savannah Schroll Guz, Weirton Area Museum & Cultural Center
The Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center wants to recapture the joy of a long-gone era by restoring the carousel to how it looked when it was brand new.
After being found in storage, it was clear it had gone through several makeovers and was used year after year.
But with old photographs, they were able to determine the original color of each horse—-as well as their name.
And so they began the process of returning Flicka, Silver, Fury, Ginger, Beauty, and King to their original identities.
“I know that the first thing as a museum specialist and a restoration specialist you have to
Savannah Schroll Guz, Weirton Area Museum & Cultural Center
document everything.”
And that documentation requires the skills of both an artist and a historian.
It involves preparing templates of how their designs originally looked, so they can be drawn on more accurately after rust remediation takes place.
It’s like an archeological dig—looking behind what’s there now to find out what once was.
“There’s a Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle part of Sherlock Holmes that says ‘you see
Savannah Schroll Guz, Weirton Area Museum & Cultural Center
but you don’t observe.’ I’m really doing careful observation, looking at the details,”
Once it’s finished, the carousel will have a big unveiling and the public will even be able to interact with it.
“The parents can have memories with their children and grandchildren so they can enjoy it too and
Savannah Schroll Guz, Weirton Area Museum & Cultural Center
sort of have that vicarious experience of riding it again.”
The museum says you’ll be able to get a glimpse of all that restoration work by the fall.
