A historic carousel will soon call a brand new pavilion on Salisbury Beach home thanks to the efforts of the Salisbury Beach Partnership and
a generous $250K donation from Newburyport Bank—a true community bank that gives back to the neighborhoods it serves. This project is part of a greater effort to restore Salisbury’s waterfront, creating a year-round family-oriented destination.
The pavilion will be constructed at a space on Broadway that has been vacant for 25 years, donated by Partnership President Wayne Capolupo and his family. Along with the historic carousel, the pavilion will also house a much-needed Newburyport Bank micro branch and event space for birthday parties and weddings.
The wooden hand-carved carousel, dating back to 1909, was built by W.F. Mangels at the Looff factory in East Providence, Rhode Island. During its heyday, the Looff carousel whirled and twirled at Harveys Lake Amusement Park in Pennsylvania. Now 112 years later, the historic carousel has been completely restored and will once again bring smiles to riders—big and small.
The carousel, one of only 300 of its kind, is made up of 44 hand-carved and painted wooden animals—including horses, giraffes, camels, and goats. As part of the fundraising for the project, families and local businesses can “adopt” one of the animals and sponsor it for the next 20 years.
Along with the Adopt a Horse program, all proceeds from this year’s Sea Festival of Trees, where 12 of the horses were on display, will go to the historic carousel and pavilion. The Salisbury Beach Partnership will continue to raise up to $1 million in funds for the Campaign for the Carousel.
The Salisbury waterfront is no stranger to having a beautiful carousel for locals and visitors to enjoy. The Broadway Flying Horses, the original Salisbury carousel, was a beloved family tradition for over 60 years before being sold off and moved to Santa Monica, California in 2019. The new addition of the pavilion and historic carousel, along with many other investment like the new Welcome Center, Comfort Station, and oceanfront boardwalk will truly bring back the magic of the Salisbury.
