RALEIGH -- Nearly every day, a school bus pulls into the parking lot at Pullen Park with teachers and chaperones who are desperately ready to let their charges run off a little energy after touring state capital sites.
But now they're met with a locked metal fence and signs that say the park is closed for renovation until summer 2011.
For many students who live outside Wake County, Pullen Park, with its famous carousel and kiddie train, is almost always on the itinerary when they visit the city, said David Shouse, Raleigh's senior park planner. It's also a destination for many local families on warm, sunny days.
That's why the park, which dates back to 1887, is getting a major facelift that will cost about $6 million - most of which is coming from a bond issue passed in 2007.
When the work is done, the carousel, crafted in the early 1900s and considered a piece of art, will be more of a showpiece, Shouse said. It will be housed in a new building with bigger windows that open to allow park-goers to hear the Wurlitzer organ. The building also will be a larger space and will be available for birthdays and weddings, he said.
The carousel itself will be repaired and documented through film and photos by city workers as it's dismantled, Shouse said.
In addition, workers are making many fixes to the duck pond, Shouse said. The pond was drained this past winter, and workers will dredge it this week. (Don't worry, the fish were moved to a nearby pond at the park, and the ducks followed, Shouse said.)
Much of the work is being done on the park's infrastructure and won't be seen by park visitors, Shouse said. Sewer lines, the pond's pipes and pumps and lighting will all be replaced or updated, he said.
"A lot of the work we're doing for the present, but we're also looking at how to make it easier to fix five to 10 years from now," Shouse said.
The city has been working on plans to overhaul the park for nearly a decade, Shouse said, and much consideration has gone into every change. For example, the consultants hired to design the new space spent time in Central Park, where they talked with the staff and studied the colors of the benches and buildings, Shouse said. It inspired them to put asphalt down at the new Pullen.
A second carousel at Chavis Park southeast of downtown will also be worked on, Shouse said. Currently, the Chavis carousel is off to the side. The city will move it closer to the community center, so it too will be more central to the park, Shouse said. It also will get a new building, he said.
The Pullen Aquatic Center and the community center are not part of the work and will remain open. Meanwhile, the park gate is locked so folks won't wander in. The playground equipment was removed to deter visitors from coming in, Shouse said.
At lunchtime one day last week, several minivans pulled up with children expecting to play at the park, including Len and Gloria Castillo of Cary, who brought their grandchildren, Sara, 5, and Nathan, 2. The family had their picnic lunch on benches in the parking lot anyway, complete with a Cinderella straw cup and a Hello Kitty sandwich box.
"We didn't know it was closed," Len Castillo said, adding he is surprised it won't open for another year. "But I think it needs to be renovated."
There's hope for parents, teachers and chaperones who haven't heard about the park's closure. A sign on the fence gives them an alternative park to let children run: "Please visit Chavis Park, 505 MLK Boulevard, 2.1 miles east."
News researcher Brooke Cain contributed to this report.
