Every weekend, the Virginia Key Beach Park unveils its crown jewel, a 1950s Allan Herschell carousel.

After the noon opening, the booming music of the vintage ride fills the historic park -- and attracts eager riders.

The carousel is part of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust's plan to restore the beachfront park to the popular playground it once was.

``In 1999, when the community came together and decided the park should be saved the concept was to restore the park to a walking museum so to speak,'' Virginia Key Beach Park trustee Gene Tinnie said. ``The idea of getting the carousel was driven so the [current] generation now can see what the generation before had worked for.''

The park's executive director, David Shorter, found the Herschell carousel by chance -- at a Miramar church carnival.

In February 2008 when the park reopened, the ride was leased from Modern Midways, an amusement ride company for $10,000. ``We wanted to follow all of the history lines that were here when the park first opened,'' Shorter said.

In May 2008, the park purchased the $250,000 carousel with private donations, a $50,000 grant from the office of Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff and money from the County Safe Neighborhood Parks Fund, according to David Friedman, the park's marketing director.

The carousel was a bargain. Many 1950s Herschell merry-go-rounds cost as much as $600,000 depending on their condition.

During Miami's earlier days of segregation, the ride partly represented equality between the ``colored'' Virginia Key Beach Park and the ``whites only'' Crandon Park. Both parks operated with a mini-train and carousel.

For Barbara Mason-Gardiner, a 1960 Booker T. Washington graduate, visiting the park today brings back feelings of nostalgia.

``Although it was segregated, to us those were some of the great times,'' Mason-Gardiner said. ``It really made you feel like you were on Miami Beach.''

For more than 20 years, the inside of the octagon-shaped building was empty. The original carousel had deteriorated by the time Miami took over the park in the 1980s.

The ride now rests in the pavilion just yards away from the ocean. It has been refurbished with electrical wiring -- an upgrade from the generator the previous carousel used.

Now on Saturdays and Sundays, people stand in line for a carousel ride. ``It's a vital piece of our community,'' Mason-Gardiner said. ``Being out here is still a thrilling experience.''

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