The carousel: A look inside the jewel box

Smale Riverfront Park planners have long envisioned a carousel sitting inside a glass case, like a crystal jewel box that would glow at night. On May 16, Carol Ann's Carousel – a gift from the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation – will take its first visitors for a ride.

The huge, 6,300-square-foot glass-enclosed carousel sits just west of the Roebling Suspension Bridge. It has 44 animals and each tells a story about Cincinnati.

Descriptions are courtesy of the Cincinnati Park Board. Photos of the animals are courtesy of Robert A. Flischel.

MORE: Your guide to Smale Park

Baby Elephant

The Baby Elephant wears a hat patterned after the dome of the historic Elephant House at the Cincinnati Zoo. Built in 1906, 30 years after the zoo first opened, the grand, $50,000 house was influenced by architecture of India – including the Taj Mahal.

Baseball Horse

The Cincinnati Baseball Horse proudly wears the colors and trappings of the city's beloved team: The Cincinnati Reds. The nation's first paid professional team took to the field in 1869, and won the hearts of the hometown fans in every season since.

The Union Terminal Cheetah

This Cheetah, which can run as fast as a train, shows off Cincinnati's Union Terminal, often called "the finest structure of its day." When the Art Deco masterpiece opened in 1933, it accommodated 17,000 train passengers daily. Today, it is the home of the Cincinnati Museum Center.

The Findlay Market Pig

This pig honors Findlay Market – the only surviving Cincinnati municipal market house from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its Over-the-Rhine location made Findlay Market, with its produce and butcher stalls, well-situated for people moving out of the river basin during the mid 19th century.

The Downtown Building Giraffe

This giraffe recalls the century-old tradition of Cincinnati's tall downtown buildings. While the giraffe wears the tiara reminiscent of the Great American Tower, there are others to be celebrated including Carew Tower, the PNC Tower and a cluster of the city's first skyscrapers along Fourth Street that preceded the first World War.

The Carew Tower Gorilla

This gorilla proudly wears the image of Cincinnati's Carew Tower, an art deco masterpiece built during the Depression in 1930. It features an ornate arcade, Rookwood tile, exotic woods, copper fittings, black marble, bronze medallions depicting progress in transportation, and much more. And who could forget the big cinematic gorilla that climbed the Empire State Building just after Carew Tower was built?

Martha, The Last Passenger Pigeon

On September 1, 1914, Martha, the last known passenger pigeon, died at the Cincinnati Zoo. Though enormous efforts were made to save the passenger pigeon, the birds that once numbered in the billions became extinct. Her passing led to stronger conservation laws.

The Cincinnati Lightning Bug

The lightning bug is a sure sign of summer – and of all the warm-weather attractions to enjoy throughout the Queen City. Splashing in park fountains, the Park Board's "Explore Nature!" summer camps, baseball, opera, community fairs, music and food festivals, dancing on Fountain Square and in Washington Park, and more.

The Cincinnati Observatory Horse

This horse honors the passion of Ormsby McKnight Mitchel to build the Cincinnati Observatory Center. Opened in 1843, the observatory was the nation's first built by public subscription. The 12-inch lens telescope used in 1845 still remains at the observatory which moved from its original home in Mount Adams to Mount Lookout in the 1870s.

The Oktoberfest Horse

Cincinnati is home to the world's largest Oktoberfest celebration – outside of Munich – because of the deep roots established by the early German immigrants who came to Cincinnati in the 1800s. It is a beloved festival filled with wienerwurst, schnitzel, beer and oom-pah!

The Praying Mantis

Cincinnati is home to the Carolina praying mantis, a native to the region. Their serene prayer-like posture makes them popular among artists, poets and musicians who depict their grace and spiritual serenity through art, words and song.

The Queen Bee

The Queen Bee reigns as a symbol of civic pride for the "Queen City." Citizens, as early as the 1820s, boasted about Cincinnati's rapid growth and referred to their beloved hometown as the Queen City – a name that had staying power.

The Seven Hills Rabbit

Cincinnati was named after a Roman aristocrat. The city was, like Rome, built on "Seven Hills." The native eastern cottontail rabbit hops through them all: Mount Adams, Mount Auburn, Walnut Hills, Fairmount, Fairview Heights, Clifton Heights and Price Hill.

Trigger

Roy Rogers rode his golden palomino Trigger in nearly 200 films and television programs. Rogers was born in 1911 in Cincinnati – in a home in the neighborhood where the park now stands. Rogers' home – along with many others – were razed to make way for Riverfront Stadium in the 1970s.

What you need to know (so you can tell) about the carousel:

1) Schoolchildren and random Cincinnatians (surveyed while at area parks) brainstormed the animals they wanted to see included. The Park Board and ArtWorks got 1,000 different suggestions.

2) Carousel Works in Mansfield, the world's largest maker of wooden carousels, has some stock animals they work from. But they created a few that will be unique here. Like the pig and the passenger pigeon.

3) Look for cool details: The hat on the Baby Elephant is actually a replica of the dome of the Elephant House at Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

4) Look even closer. Nearly all the animals, while sporting local flora and fauna, also have a Lazarus lizard hidden somewhere. According to local lore, the lizards came to Cincinnati in 1951, when the son of arts patron Irma Lazarus brought a few home from Italy in his suitcase.

5) The soap opera horse? A tribute to Procter & Gamble which pioneered the radio/TV genre to sell Ivory soap.

6) See the Play-Doh crown on the Flying Pig? A tip of the hat to the fact that toys such as Play-Doh and Easy-Bake Ovens were invented here.

7) The carousel's 16 interior murals are based on Cincinnati landmarks, such as Music Hall, the Tyler Davidson Fountain, Union Terminal and Crosley Field. They were painted by ArtWorks apprentices and Cincinnati artist Jonathan Queen. Queen's 16 whimsical paintings, each representing a Cincinnati park, encircle the top ring.

8) Total cost: $1.1 million for the carousel, including its carved figures, paintings, lights and installation. (The cost of the building containing it: $4.5 million.)

9) The carousel is named for the late Carol Ann Haile. In May of 2013, The Haile Foundation announced a $5 million gift to fund its construction.

10) The opening day is also Carol Ann Haile's birthday. Expect free rides and cake and ice cream for all. Ordinarily, rides will cost a nominal fee.