GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Public Museum President & CEO Dale Robertson is having a blast overseeing a $50 million restoration of the facility on the west banks of the Grand River.
One aspect of that renovation entails riverfront construction outdoors and some major projects inside the museum, such as renovation of the horses, menagerie and chariot on the 1928 Spillman Carousel. It had to be dismantled and stripped down in order that it might be restored to its illustrative beauty of a century ago.
Tucked upstairs in a large room not accessible to the public are a handful of artists meticulously hand repainting and restoring the vintage horses that will once again adorn the carousel, which for many years has been an iconic part of the downtown skyline at night. Its bright lights serve as a beacon that can be seen for miles through the glass-walled Cook Carousel Pavilion.
It is due to reopen this fall after being closed for renovations since January 2024. Renovations that are designed to preserve history and delight museum visitors for decades to come. The museum contacted Marion, Ohio-based Carousels and Carvings which went about restoring the 52 horses and menagerie animals, plus two chariots.
Media members got a sneak peek of the renovations during a tour of the public museum Tuesday.
The restoration is not just to the mechanical parts but to the figures themselves.
Robertson said the animals on the carousel all had automobile paint on them. So, museum artists decided to take the animals all the way down to the bare wood as part of the restoration process. They were primed and then painted in a way to reflect their own unique personality.
The museum is doing the refurbishments in house with its own staff and a group of local artists. Robertson said one of his co-workers – Exhibits Manager Stevie Hornyak – painted markings on the carousel giraffe that actually reflects the species of giraffe that is at Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek.
“We’re going to design this and paint it like an actual giraffe including one that you could go and see here in West Michigan,” Robertson said.
Museum officials have a goal of having the entire riverfront project, including the carousel, open to the public and operating by late fall or early winter.
Being built outside in view of the riverfront is an outdoor classroom with a unique design of its own, especially in terms of accessibility for people in wheelchairs, walkers and strollers.
“So, that is an outdoor classroom that is also a unique design. I’m not aware of any permanent structure like this anywhere in the nation,” Robertson told WOOD Radio.
Eleven-foot-tall walls have been built to create a platform for the school and museum to access the Grand River.
“We are the interpretation center and education center, as designed by the City of Grand Rapids’ GR Forward master plan,” Robertson said on the media tour. “And in cooperation with all the work on the river restoration to be that source for all education, interpretation, water system, water-related hydrobiology. This is the place where all that learning will happen.”
A system of ramps is part of the Cook Carousel Pavilion. The carved chariot will allow a person on a wheelchair to be able to have a ride on the carousel.
The overall $50 million expansion project at the Grand Rapids Public Museum includes the riverfront project, and some new space on the west side that will allow the museum to double the number of students it serves annually from about 35,000 to more than 70,000 students. It also includes a new north-end park that will connect to Ah-Nab-Awen Park on the other (north) side of Pearl Street along the riverfront.
The project is part of the 7.5-mile trail loop that connects into the greenway with the White Pine Trail and out into Ottawa County as part of a regional trail system.
“That’s one reason why the Cook Carousel Pavilion is separated from the main museum building, so there is space for a consistent, unimpeded trail,” Robertson said.
The upgrades will include a new elevator. Sound baffles will control noise. Robertson said colors, textures and other aspects are all being taken into account to enhance the overall visitor experience.
A new exhibit featuring the Clapp Family Mastodon is scheduled to be unveiled on September 11. It was discovered by a construction crew working on a drainage project in Kent City in 2022. The juvenile mastodon died more than 13,000 years ago when it was about 10 years old. It was found about 80 percent intact.
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1 of 14 Montage of carousel figures and other items at GRPM.Photo: Photos by Steve Katerberg
2 of 14 3 of 14 4 of 14 5 of 14 6 of 14 A montage of various images at the GRPM.Photo: All photos taken by Steve Katerberg
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