The Perron Family has amassed the world’s largest collection of complete operating carousels, saving from extinction 20 complete carousels, and over 1,200 carousel figures.  This collection is the most comprehensive collection in the world.  Over the last 5 decades, the Perron Family has become by far the world’s leading authority on historic antique carousels.  The Family has successfully preserved more antique carousels, hosted more educational school field trips, provided more national and international museum exhibits, performed more carousel restorations, dismantled, transported, and installed more carousels, and managed the operations of more historic carousels than any other entity ever in the history of the world.

The Perron Family’s new mission is to find a permanent home for their carousel collection and to create the world’s largest Carousel Preservation Park dedicated to families of children with autism and special needs. This Edwardian-themed Park will allow future generations to physically experience the fantasies that the original carousel builders intended when they spent countless hours creating magnificent pieces of art out of blocks of wood.  The Carousel Preservation Park will be a place to step back in time, not simply to view carousel art in its individual pieces, but rather to learn the history of these incredible machines of “art in motion,” and to actually ride the “art in motion,” just as the original carousel companies intended.

The vision of The Carousel Preservation Park is to create an educational experience for the entire family.  It would become the “Carousel Capital of the World,” where more than a dozen antique carousels will operate within an Edwardian-themed setting to enable the guests to step back in time.  It will be a destination location dedicated to the beloved old wooden carousel and its rich history. The park will be filled with hands on sensory exhibits created for autistic children and children with special needs. It will be a sanctuary for the donation of carousels that have fallen into significant disrepair owned by municipalities and developers.

The Park will host families in 20 themed overnight cottages and 20 cabins, each cottage and cabin representing and showcasing the memorabilia from each of the 20 different carving companies that carved the thousands of figures for America’s “first amusement ride.”  The Park will also host educational programs, restoration workshops, and holiday promotions.

The Carousel Preservation Park will provide the Park guests with educational displays illustrating how the carousel makers were a part of the industrial revolution and they were instrumental in creating many different mechanical devices and drive systems.  We would like to provide the Park guests with the opportunity to ride a steam-driven carousel.  And we would also like to educate the guests on how the electric companies played a huge role in promoting these carousels. The carousels were often referred to as “spinning light machines.”