Carmel, Ind., politicians expected to reject Centreville carousel sale
Philip Lee-Shanok | CBC News | Posted: September 14, 2017 11:52 PM | Last Updated: September 14, 2017
Sale goes to a council vote on Monday, but the finance committee has recommended against it
The chances that Centreville's beloved 110-year-old carousel will be moving to the U.S. just became a whole lot slimmer.
The finance committee in Carmel, Ind., voted against borrowing $5 million on Wednesday night, which would have been used to buy the carousel and build a showcase for it.
Officials from the midwestern city had approached the owners of Centre Island's amusement park with a $3-million offer to buy the vintage ride earlier this year — but the debate about the purchase has been going in circles all summer.
The finance committee's recommendation will go before city council for a vote on Monday. And Carmel's clerk-treasurer said the deal will likely be defeated there.
"Is it possible it can be approved? Yeah, but they'd have to go against the finance committee," Christine Pauley said in a telephone interview. "And that normally doesn't happen."
The deal won't go ahead without the council's approval; one of the conditions of the purchase agreement was that the local politicians had to approve the deal.
Other options?
But Pauley said that doesn't mean that Carmel Mayor James Brainard can't buy the carousel himself — he just can't use money borrowed by the city.
Pauley says the mayor could find other funds, possibly through the Carmel redevelopment commission, by creating a private-public partnership — or by creating a not-for-profit group to buy and run the ride.
Centreville Amusement Park's marketing manager said she's still optimistic the mayor will buy the carousel.
"They've got until end of October to finalize financing," Shawnda Walker said. "They just don't want to use city funds to fund it, but we're hopeful the purchase and sale is still there and that it will be met."