A crew from Ohio began the painstaking task of dismantling a beloved antique carousel in Seaside Heights Monday in advance of a complete overhaul and, if all goes as planned, its move to a newly-built home along the boardwalk and a new life giving rides.

A team of movers from the firm Carousels and Carvings of Marion, Ohio, began what could be several days of careful de-construction of the 109-year-old Floyd L. Moreland Historic Dentzel/Looff Carousel, which has been awaiting its removal from a boardwalk arcade just north of Grant Avenue opposite the Casino Pier amusement park.

Workmen from Ohio-based Carousels and Carvings disassemble the 109-year-old Floyd L. Moreland Carousel in Seaside Heights on Monday, Nov. 11, 2019.Russ DeSantis | For NJ Advance Media

“They number everything, they’re very meticulous,” said the carousel’s namesake, Floyd Moreland, who chairs the Seaside Heights Historical Society, a panel convened by Mayor Anthony Vaz last spring to raise money for the carousel’s preservation. “They’re all very congenial and know what they were doing. And seemed to care about what they were doing.”

The carousel, which ceased giving rides in April, was acquired by the borough from the owners of Casino Pier with the intention of restoring and permanently housing it in a pavilion on the site of what is now a gravel parking lot four blocks north of the arcade. The carousel is to resume rides in Summer 2021, when it would also serve as an amenity for receptions held in an event space planned as part of the new pavilion.

Two of the 53 hand-carved wooden horses from the Floyd L. Moreland Carousel in Seaside Park lay on the floor of the arcade where the carousel had long been housed. A crew began to disassemble the carousel on Monday, Nov. 11, 2019. Russ DeSantis | For NJ Advance Media

The colorful, hand-carved carousel had operated for the better part of century in Seaside Heights, where it has become a symbol of the more genteel, family-friendly atmosphere that the Ocean County Shore resort is trying to recapture after being associated with the excesses of the “Jersey Shore” reality TV show taped there.

The 53 horses, five other animals and two chariots that patrons ride on, plus hundreds of other pieces that make up sections of the carousel deck, poles, decorative and mechanical elements, will be housed in a specially built shed, or “pole barn,” a few blocks from the beach on Central Avenue. Some components will be sanded, glued, repainted, polished, oiled or otherwise repaired in the barn, while others may have to be shipped back to Carousels and Carvings’ shop in Ohio, Moreland said.

The horses on the carousel's outer row, which do not move up and down, are the last to be removed, because they are fixed to poles that support the deck. Russ DeSantis | For NJ Advance Media

The projected $4.5 million total cost of the restoration and construction projects would be financed through private fundraising led by the historical society, plus public funding sought by the city, including a pair of $750,000 matching grants already authorized by the New Jersey Historic Trust and the state Green Acres Local Assistance program.

In addition to Moreland, the 1910 carousel is identified by the names of the 19th and 20th Century amusement artisans who built most of it, William Dentzel and Charles Looff.

Workmen from an Ohio company that specializes in restoring antique carousels move one of 53 horses from the Floyd L. Moreland Carousel in Seaside Heights onto a truck that will transport it to a temporary warehouse before work on it is done.Russ DeSantis | For NJ Advance Media

Moreland is a retired dean and classics professor from the City University of New York Graduate Center, who grew up in Passaic and spent summers on the Jersey Shore riding and then operating the carousel, before leading a group of volunteers who partially restored it in the 1980s after he began teaching.

At CUNY, Moreland shared his enthusiasm for the merry-go-round with students, faculty and administrators, some of whom developed a deep appreciation for it themselves.

A workman places one of the 53 hand-carved horses from the Floyd L. Moreland Carousel on a rack in a temporary storage facility in Seaside Heights before it is restored. Russ DeSantis | For NJ Advance Media

In addition to the $5,132 raised via the carousel’s FundRazr page as of Monday afternoon, Moreland said he had received checks totaling close to $20,000, including one for $10,000 from a former CUNY colleague who had been to the borough several times to see it.

“It was very hard to work with me at CUNY graduate school without coming here,” Moreland said.

Horses from the Floyd L. Moreland Carousel in Seaside Heights will be stored in a custom-built, temporary warehouse, or "pole barn," before they are restored in advance of the carousel's return to operation in a new location on the boardwalk, anticipated for 2021. Russ DeSantis | For NJ Advance Media

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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