DENVER (KDVR) — A fire destroyed several businesses at a shopping center in the small town of Holland overnight, but the Happiness Carousel next door survived the blaze, and this isn’t the first time the historic building has survived a fire.
The fire led to evacuation orders around 3:30 a.m., and the Caribou Village Mall was completely destroyed by sunrise. Crews were still working to put out hot spots Thursday evening, and the carousel escaped with only minor damage.
The carousel began spinning in the Netherlands in 2010, but parts of it have been around for more than a century.
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The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office shared these photos of damage and flames at the Caribou Village Mall in Holland on October 9, 2025. (Courtesy of Boulder County Sheriff’s Office) -
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office shared these photos of damage and flames at the Caribou Village Mall in Holland on October 9, 2025. (Courtesy of Boulder County Sheriff’s Office)
An original carousel built for the resort in Utah
The story goes back to 1870, when 18-year-old Charles I. DeLove moved from Denmark to New York City, according to the Carousel website. A skilled wood carver, he began manufacturing carousels, including the first carousel for Coney Island in New York in 1876.
In 1917, he delivered the carousel to the Great Saltaire Park, a World famous resort It was built on the south shore of Utah’s Great Salt Lake in 1893. The resort is accessible by train and features many attractions, including a roller coaster, games, bike races, a rodeo, swimming, a large dance floor, and more. According to the Encyclopedia of Utah History.
By the early 1920s, the carousel had become a popular attraction with the resort attracting nearly half a million visitors each year, the height of its popularity.
Carousel survives devastating fires and wind storms
The carousel has operated for more than 40 years and has survived several fires, as well as a wind storm that blew a roller coaster over the carousel.
In April 1925, a devastating fire burned the resort’s pavilion to the ground, destroying $500,000 worth of attractions and concessions, leaving only the carousel remaining. A new wing was built and opened the following year, but the resort’s popularity was no longer what it had been as other entertainment options emerged and the Great Depression kept people indoors.
Another fire struck the resort in 1931 and caused $100,000 in damage, but once again, the carousel was saved. However, the waters receded about a half-mile by 1933, and the Saltaire suffered through the Great Depression before closing its doors during World War II, according to the encyclopedia article.
After the war, the resort reopened with high hopes but continued to struggle. The park was declared bankrupt in 1959. Efforts to save it subsequently failed, and it was abandoned until another fire destroyed the pavilion in November 10970, saving the carousel again.
According to the carousel’s website, the Looff carousel was delivered to the Utah State Training School, where it operated under the name “Fairyland.” School residents worked to significantly restore the painted animals in 1976. According to a Deseret News article at the time, the animal sculptures were stripped of about 20 layers of paint and restored, revealing individual manufacturing dates as early as 1872. The carousel was sold in 1986 to a buyer who only wanted the animals and sold them individually.
A man from Holland buys a circular tire
That’s when Scott Harrison, a Holland resident and Vietnam veteran, discovered that the carousel frame had been sold for parts. He spent time in the trenches using a small music box to distract him from the chaos of the war zone, imagining a carousel in a mountain meadow. he He bought the circular frame and brought his pieces to Holland.
He spent the next 22 years learning to carve and create new animals for the carousel. Once the animal carvings were completed, the community helped raise the $700,000 needed to build a carousel house, where it remains today.
It has been a staple in the community ever since. It still operates on its original bearings, gears and metalwork, which have been restored for continued use. Some parts were replaced due to safety concerns, according to the website.
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Hand-carved animal on happiness carousel (Courtesy of Melody Baumhofer) -
Hand-carved animal on happiness carousel (Courtesy of Melody Baumhofer) -
Hand-carved animal on happiness carousel (Courtesy of Melody Baumhofer) -
Hand-carved animal on happiness carousel (Courtesy of Melody Baumhofer) -
Hand-carved animal on happiness carousel (Courtesy of Melody Baumhofer)
The carousel contains other pieces of history as well.
A new parquet floor was built using wood that was cut in 1890 and used in whiskey barrels at the Seagram factory in Illinois, which was dismantled in the 1990s. The panels, salvaged from the Michigan carousel built by Love’s brother-in-law in 1910, were restored for the carousel’s decorative panels around the top of the carousel. The interior of the carousel contains 16 paintings painted in the 1990s of a carousel in Texas, but the Nederland carousel had 18 paintings, so local artist Dorothy Emmerling volunteered to paint two more. In addition, music plays as the carousel rotates 1913 Wurlitzer Band Organ This is part old-fashioned piano player 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 Circular site It states that it is closed due to the fire and says it will be open for riding once cleanup efforts are complete.