Albany carousel cuts hours as pandemic cuts revenue

Published 1:39 pm Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Although the exotic animals on the Albany Historic Carousel & Museum aren’t susceptible to the coronavirus, the worldwide pandemic has resulted in reduced ridership and income.

“The impact of COVID-19 has reduced our revenue by an average of 65% over the past three months since reopening on June 11,” Executive Director Peggy Burris said

Reflecting that loss of revenue, beginning Sept. 8, the carousel will reduce its operating hours to 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

The carousel had operated seven days a week since opening three years ago, but the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the number of patrons — especially walk-ins — significantly, Burris said.

There were 14,000 visitors in August 2019 compared to 3,500 this year.

Before the pandemic, there were about 160,000 visitors each year.

“We have had to take a hard look at our finances, and we are making these temporary changes to reduce expenses,” Burris said.

Burris said income has slowed due to cancellations of fundraising events, party rentals and decreased foot traffic.

“Fortunately, we’ve not had to lay off staff, but hours will now be reduced,” Burris said. “We did receive a Paycheck Protection loan to help out.”

There are eight employees including Burris.

The carousel will be open 7 days a week through Labor Day, Burris said and on this Friday there will be an ice cream social.

Burris said staff and volunteers are sanitizing carousel animals after every ride.

“They keep tabs on which animals were ridden or even touched and they are cleaned before the next round,” Burris said. “We are doing everything we can to make this work and to be safe.”