The Carousel & Weddings

The carousel at Goddard Memorial State Park is gone, but its pavilion remains: RI DEM rents it as the Carousel Performing Arts Center for weddings, concerts, picnics and private events. The state fee is $350 a day, banquet tables are $10 each, and DEM asks for carousel reservations at least one year before the date. Book through the Goddard park office at (401) 884-2010, ext. 1.

What You Are Renting

The building is the old carousel pavilion. DEM's park history says the empty pavilion was refurbished by the park after the carousel left in 1973 and is now available for events and private parties. DEM's park page calls it a performing arts center "for weddings, concerts, picnics, and special events", and its rentals page counts it as one of Goddard's four covered shelters. The state's fee schedule lists it as the "Performing Arts Center" at Goddard State Park.

Price and What It Includes

• Carousel Performing Arts Center: $350 per day (Rhode Island state park fee schedule).
• Banquet tables: $10 per table. The City of Warwick's listing for the park says 20 round tables (60 inches across) and 5 rectangular tables (6 feet long) are available.

State rules waive some fees for people with disabilities, but they specifically exclude "specialized facility use fees", including performing arts centers, so the $350 applies to everyone. DEM's general rental terms ask for payment within 10 business days of booking, by cash, check or money order; permit fees are non-refundable.

How Far Ahead to Book

DEM says carousel reservations are to be made at least one year prior to the requested date, and the City of Warwick's listing repeats that bookings are accepted a year in advance. Call the park office at (401) 884-2010, ext. 1, or email Felicia.Celeberto@dem.ri.gov, the contact DEM gives for organised groups and events at Goddard.

Weddings at Goddard Park

The pavilion gives a wedding a covered space inside a large park, with lawns and specimen-tree groves for photos and picnic fields nearby for guests. Plan around these rules:

• No alcohol. Rhode Island's state park rules prohibit possessing, drinking or selling alcohol in state parks; the exceptions in the rules name other parks (Fort Adams, Beavertail, Colt and state beaches under licence), not Goddard.
• Special use permit. DEM says any organised group gathering or event, at any time of year, should contact the park office to find out whether it needs a special use permit.
• Sunset closing. State parks close to everyone at sunset unless you hold written permission, so plan a daytime event or ask about permission when you book.
• Fires and grills are allowed only in designated areas or with written permission.
• Carry out your trash. The City of Warwick's page on the park says all trash at Goddard is carry in, carry out.

Concerts and Events

DEM lists concerts among the experiences at Goddard, and the pavilion is the park's performance space. If you are organising a concert, a fundraiser or a race, start with the special use permit conversation with the park office.

The Carousel's History

The carousel that gave the pavilion its name was built in 1890 at the Charles I. D. Loof factory in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It ran in Syracuse, New York, was refitted in 1901 at Loof's shop in the Riverside section of East Providence, and went to the Rocky Point amusement park in 1907, where it ran until 1929. In 1931 it was installed at Goddard, and it turned there until it was sold and taken apart in 1973. It was meant for California and ended up in Jacksonville, Florida. Joseph L. Carrolo, who managed it in Syracuse, at Rocky Point and at Goddard, was known by 1978 as the "Carousel King". The full story is on the history page, and the old amusement park is now Rocky Point State Park.

Smaller Gatherings

For a party that does not need a building, Goddard's picnic shelters and fields cost less: Shelters F and G are $100 a day, the 10-table Picnic Shelter is $75, and Gazebo B with its field is $95. See picnic areas.