Philanthropist Jane Walentas spent 27 years hand-restoring the beloved carousel that now bears her first name and is a capstone of Brooklyn Bridge Park.
But last October, she saw her work half-destroyed in just a few hours during Hurricane Sandy, when the carousel was surrounded by East River floodwaters and the basement was inundated, damaging all the machine’s electronics but sparing the historic wood horsies.
To ensure that her work will not be threatened again, Walentas’s husband David, a developer, bought her a special anniversary gift this year: a $125,000 AquaFence.
The AquaFence is a removable system of 44 waterproof panels, each four feet high, that can be put up around the carousel in a few hours when a storm is approaching in a fraction of the time it would take to pile up sandbags and with better results, proponents of the gear say. The panels can be installed with a household drill and are designed to become stronger and less permeable as water rises.
Merry-go-round enthusiasts say the water-repellent barrier will prevent rising tides from swamping their beloved horsey ride during the next superstorm.
“The image of Jane’s Carousel submerged during Hurricane Sandy will remain in our memories and is a testament to the importance of resilient design and preparedness in the face of climate change,” said Regina Meyer, the president of Brooklyn Bridge Park, at a ceremony unveiling the carousel’s new armor.
Jane’s Carousel is a vintage ride that was built in 1922. It opened as Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2011.
