The Paragon Carousel

Since moving to the Boston area a few years back, Hull/Nantasket has been my favorite beach to go to. It is south of Boston and only 20 minutes from my house and is clean, friendly and has the remnants of that old beach town feel with the old bathhouses, the penny arcade, the Fascination game, ice cream and more. Back in the day Nantasket used to be home to Paragon Park, a classic sea-side amusement park complete with roller coaster (built in 1917) and carousel. In 1984, the park closed in order to develop it into condominiums etc and the "Giant Coaster" was moved and now operates as "The Wild One" at Six Flags America, Baltimore/Washington DC and from the old boardwalk, only the old clock tower and carousel remain.

Recently, American Express and their Partners in Preservation initiative asked people to vote which of 22 different Greater Boston they should donate $100k to for preservation purposes and the peeps in Neutral Milk Hotel got wind of this and urged their fans to log-on and vote for the Paragon Carousel (you know, because they love all that old time stuff) and today, Pitchfork announced that the band's cause did indeed win the money.

According to my local paper, the Patriot Ledger, the $100,000 grant will be used to replace the doors and restore the windows to re-establish the original appearance and update the safety measures of this popular summer icon.

I for one am really excited because as a frequent Nantasket Beach-goer, I can't imagine it without the famed carousel. I just wish I got to see the "giant coaster" while it was still there.