Should the Merry-go-round go? [WITH POLL]

I wonder which developer has suggested it may be a good site for something else?

Bingo. Knowing the way Team Katy has run things, I think you are probably on the money there.

It’s not surprising that patronage is down on a midwinter weekday. I’m sure it does better in summer, and like others I can’t see too many other places that would provide more punters.

The Carousel is called Weniger’s Steam Riding Gallery.

I thought it was heritage listed and couldn’t be moved? What sort of magic powers does Kaytee have?

poetix said :

I have been researching the merry-go-round a little for a poem and its history is quite fascinating; it was owned by a German showman, originally, and quite a lot of it imported from Germany, but it had to be sold by him because of anti-German sentiment…even something as innocent as a merry-go-round gets caught up in war. This document is well worth a look:

http://www.environment.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/235396/Civic_Merry_go_round.pdf

I think that it would be a shame to move it, personally.

“anti-German sentiment”: 50 Armed Aussie soldiers come up and attacked the Carousel because the owner was German and the pipes were German made. If he didn’t sell it, it would have been destroyed.

Interesting that it goes the American / Canadian Counter clockwise direction, most European carousels go around clockwise direction. Kaytee doesn’t think it fits in with her unsafe and out of place European traffic signals perhaps?

PantsMan said :

It is an eyesore that spoils the vista, move it to Glebe Park.

The eyesore is not the merry-go-round, it’s what’s around it. Though I admit it does not look at its best when it is closed which it almost always seems to be when I walk past.
My first choice would be to leave it where it is and improve the surrounds. What a shame the coffee shop in Centrepoint didn’t work out. That’s what it needs, pleasant places in the vicinity to linger, sit and relax, have something to eat or drink.
My second choice would be to move it somewhere that might be seen as more suitable, but where? Glebe Park, near the children’s playground, crossed my mind. Or down near the lake as part of the City to Lake project. I can’t think of anything that seems quite right.

beardedclam said :

. . I personally think the roundabout should be wherever it will be used most. Memories of the Civic roundabout go back years, not just for me, but for everyone that has had a ride.
It just has to be somewhere and hopefully LEAD can remain involved with it’s operation.

+1

Katy walks through Civic on a weekday and thinks the Merry-Go-Round is underused. A working weekday. A daycare day. A school day.

Where else in Canberra do they imagine they are going to find more users during a weekday?

Too dear when you have 4 kids, but at least it brightens up civic and gives kids something to do/see in an otherwise rather sterile environment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtAK86uhr5A

had to get a run here…

pop it in the labor caucus room, mebbe?

Here’s a challenge for people; name the first horse you rode on.

Mine was Polo Prince and rode on it the weekend before the ride officially opened.

One of the very few interesting things in the town centre, and the lady mayor wants shot of it?

Perhaps we could erect another Tittycarp in it’s place.

I have been researching the merry-go-round a little for a poem and its history is quite fascinating; it was owned by a German showman, originally, and quite a lot of it imported from Germany, but it had to be sold by him because of anti-German sentiment…even something as innocent as a merry-go-round gets caught up in war. This document is well worth a look:

http://www.environment.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/235396/Civic_Merry_go_round.pdf

I think that it would be a shame to move it, personally.

I don’t know if there are any plans – official or unofficial – for the Death Star to extend any further, but if so, perhaps it would be possible for the merry-go-round to be indoors. In other cities, with sufficient money and imagination, it would be put to good use, and much more would be made of the lovely trees nearby. Failing that, move it outside the London Circuit Soviet – it would be a great background for interviews and other staged political events.

c_c™ said :

I’ve said it before, they need to start bulldozing the inner zone of Civic and try and bring new life into it.

“We had to destroy the village to save it” – some officer in the Vietnam War.

Nothing to do with the Merry Go Round really, it’s just a victim of a precinct that is deep in decline. You look at Centrepoint right next door and it’s mostly empty, the foot traffic in the area is a fraction of what it used to be and probably the wrong type of traffic. A far cry from the days when there was bustle and people were lining up for a ride.

I’ve said it before, they need to start bulldozing the inner zone of Civic and try and bring new life into it.

If they moved it I’m sure that they could sell the site to developers for a lovely new block of flats.

It is an eyesore that spoils the vista, move it to Glebe Park.

I say leave it be. Where in the hell are you gonna move it that has more foot traffic?? plus the size of it on top of that leaves not many options I would think. If the main problem that is coming out of this is the price of the ride, then it leaves one wondering if you fix the real problem then the other goes away?

oh wait…. I am using logic again aren’t I???….. I should really stop doing that…..

harvyk1 said :

Where in Canberra could they locate it where they will get more customers? I would have thought in the city was the perfect place to put it. The only problem is it is relatively expensive to ride on especially if you have a few kids in tow…

Yeah, I’ve always wondered if a charge of $2 a ride (or something fairly nominal) would result in greater patronage. Its sort of like public transport, when you increase the price the alternatives look better (so, merry go round or ice cream?)

I walked past it the other day

And that, boys and girls, is how you develop evidence-based policy.

Given the money we’re about to spend on light rail, why don’t they make the merry-go-round free and use it as device to educate about the benefits of public transport.

Or something. But don’t move it.

While I’m generally pretty open-minded in regards to residential architecture in the burbs, I think the city needs to keep as much heritage as it can.

The merry-go-round is heritage listed and has filled that barren corridor rather nicely for decades so just get your grubby little mitts off it and let it be Kaytee!

WTF is wrong with these idiots? oh that’s right they’re pollies,enough said!

Where in Canberra could they locate it where they will get more customers? I would have thought in the city was the perfect place to put it. The only problem is it is relatively expensive to ride on especially if you have a few kids in tow…

I used to live in a townhouse complex with man, he works there with LEAD. He was so quiet and kept to himself, then one day I saw his picture in the paper and gave him a copy and told him “you are famous mate”. He was so happy someone noticed him and linked him to the roundabout.
I personally think the roundabout should be wherever it will be used most. Memories of the Civic roundabout go back years, not just for me, but for everyone that has had a ride.
It just has to be somewhere and hopefully LEAD can remain involved with it’s operation.