DENVER (KDVR) — A fire destroyed several businesses in a shopping center in the small town of Nederland overnight, but the Carousel of Happiness next door was spared from the blaze, and its far from the first time the historic structure survived a fire.
The fire prompted evacuation orders around 3:30 a.m., and the entire Caribou Village Shopping Center was destroyed by sunrise. Crews were still putting out hot spots on Thursday evening, and the carousel survived with only minor damage.
The carousel began spinning in Nederland in 2010, but parts of it have been around for well over a century.
A fire broke out at the Caribou Village Shopping Center in Nederland early Thursday morning. (Courtesy of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office) 
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office shared these images of damage and flames at the Caribou Village Shopping Center in Nederland on Oct. 9, 2025. (Courtesy of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office) The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office shared these images of damage and flames at the Caribou Village Shopping Center in Nederland on Oct. 9, 2025. (Courtesy of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office)
Original carousel built for resort in Utah
The story goes back to 1870, when 18-year-old Charles I.D. Looff moved from Denmark to New York City, according to the carousel website. He was a skilled wood carver and began manufacturing carousels, including the first carousel for New York’s Coney Island in 1876.
In 1917, he delivered the carousel to the Great Saltair Park, a once world-famous resort built on the south shore of Utah’s Great Salt Lake in 1893. The resort was accessible via train and had many attractions, including a roller coaster, games, bike races, rodeos, swimming, a large dance floor and more, according to the Utah History Encyclopedia.
Carousel survives devastating fires, wind storms
The carousel operated for over 40 years and survived multiple fires, as well as a wind storm that blew a roller coaster over on top of the carousel.
In April 1925, a devastating fire burned the resort pavilion to the ground, destroying $500,000 worth of attractions and concessions, and sparing only the carousel. A new pavilion was built and opened the next year, but was never as popular.
Another fire hit the resort in 1931 and caused $100,000 worth of damage, but again, the carousel was spared. The water receded about half a mile away by 1933, and the Saltair struggled through the Great Depression and closed during World War II, according to the encyclopedia article.
After the war, the resort reopened with high hopes but went bankrupt in 1959. Efforts to save it after that failed, and it was abandoned until another fire destroyed the pavilion in November 1970, once again sparing the carousel.
The carousel website said the Looff carousel was given to the Utah State Training School, where it ran under the name “Fairyland.” In 1976, school residents worked to restore the animals, according to a Deseret News article from the time, which were stripped of some 20 layers of paint, exposing manufacturing dates as early as 1872. The carousel was sold in 1986 to a buyer who only wanted the animals to sell.
Nederland man buys carousel frame
That’s when Nederland resident and Vietnam veteran Scott Harrison found out that the frame of the carousel was being sold for parts. He had spent time in trenches using a tiny music box to distract him from the chaos of the war zone, picturing a carousel in a mountain meadow. He bought the carousel frame and brought its pieces to Nederland.
He spent the next 22 years learning to carve and craft new animals for the carousel. Once he was finished carving the animals, the community helped to raise the $700,000 needed to build a home for the carousel, where it remains today.
It still runs on its original bearings, gears and metal work, which were restored for continued use. A few pieces were replaced due to safety concerns, according to the website.
Hand-carved animal on the Carousel of Happiness (Courtesy of Melody Baumhover) 
Hand-carved animal on the Carousel of Happiness (Courtesy of Melody Baumhover) 
Hand-carved animal on the Carousel of Happiness (Courtesy of Melody Baumhover) 
Hand-carved animal on the Carousel of Happiness (Courtesy of Melody Baumhover) Hand-carved animal on the Carousel of Happiness (Courtesy of Melody Baumhover)
The carousel has other pieces of history in it, too.
A new wooden floor was built using wood that was cut down in 1890 and used for whiskey barrels at a Seagram’s plant in Illinois, which was dismantled in the 1990s. Paintings, rescued from a Michigan carousel built in 1910 by Looff’s brother-in-law, were restored for the carousel’s decorative panels around the top. The inside of the carousel has 16 panels that were painted in the 1990s for a carousel in Texas, but the Nederland carousel had 18 panels, so local artist Dorothy Emerling volunteered to paint two more. Additionally, music plays while the carousel spins on a 1913 Wurlitzer band organ described as part old-time player piano and part pipe organ.
The Carousel of Happiness opened on Memorial Day in 2010 and has been a staple in the community ever since.
The carousel website states it is closed due to the fire and says it will be open for rides once cleanup efforts are complete.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
