Wes Nelson has put his creative talents to work on all kinds of projects over the years: everything from power wheelchairs to mechanical components for public art.
But now the Calgary designer and engineer has a really big dream.
“I want to build the world’s largest carousel, in Calgary,” Nelson said Thursday, “100 feet in diameter. It’s got 165 animals on it.”
And it’s a design in keeping with Calgary’s image as “Cowtown” – four horses leading 161 head of cattle.
“Given that it’s so huge and there are so many animals, you can get that kind of confusion of a real cattle stampede going,” Nelson said.
“So if anybody wants to ride a bull, here’s your chance to ride a bull.”
Nelson got a good response while showing people his design for the project alongside the carousel at the Calgary Zoo.
“The fact that it’s got that heritage of Calgary and Alberta is an awesome thing,” Aleeya Henson said. “This is what our city is about.”
Nelson got the idea after visiting what’s currently the world’s largest carousel in Wisconsin. He was disappointed that as a display-only exhibit, people aren’t allowed to ride it.
He’s hoping to get his colossal carousel built in time for the Calgary Stampede in 2019.
But before anything can happen, he’s got to find the money for his ambitious project.
“We’re trying to raise $1.6 million,” Nelson said, hoping to raise the money with a Kickstarter campaign in September.
If it does bring in the money he needs, Nelson plans to start building the carousel before the end of this year, hoping to do all the construction work in Calgary.
To learn more about the project, visit the website here