Carousel to be missed

Every weekend, Jeff and Yolanda Staff of Dana Point bring their daughter Sofia, 2 1/2 , to Fashion Island for a hot dog, a piece of chocolate, and a spin on the carousel.

This past Saturday might have been the last time Sofia gets to ride on her favorite carousel horse — the pink one adorned with rhinestones.

“Pink, pink,” the toddler said excitedly after getting off the ride.

The Irvine Co. announced plans last summer to take down the carousel as part and ongoing, $100-million renovation project at the 42-year-old shopping center.

The two-year project includes adding Italian-inspired fountains and 150,000 square feet of additional retail space, as well as old-world-style streetlights and paving stones.

The carousel is being dismantled to make way for 4,000 square feet of extra retail space, additional seating and a new fountain in Pacific Court at Fashion Island.

The company has not given an exact date as to when the carousel will be dismantled. Officials have only said the ride will come down at the beginning of 2010.

“We were really disappointed to hear they were taking it out,” Yolanda Staff said. “I was hoping more people would protest it going away.”

Scores of families with young children milled around the koi pond and pushed strollers down the shopping center’s brick-paved, open-air vistas on Saturday morning.

Many parents said they would spend their Saturdays elsewhere after the carousel comes down.

“It seems like there will be less stuff for kids here now. I’ll be sad to see it go,” said Ken Malone, of Irvine, who visits Fashion Island every few weeks to ride the carousel with his 18-month-old son Bryce.

“You’re going to miss it too, aren’t you, B,” Malone said to his son after taking a spin on the ride Saturday morning.

Malone said he will probably stop coming to Fashion Island when the carousel comes down.

Erik and Lisa Bateman of Long Beach visited Fashion Island on Saturday with their family because they wanted to take their 21-month-old son Zak and 4-year-old daughter Natalia on the carousel one last time before the ride came down.

“We like the fresh air and the atmosphere here. It will be sad when [the carousel] comes down,” Lisa Bateman said.

The Italian-themed carousel, called the Carousel Carnivale, has been at Fashion Island since 2003.

Irvine Co. officials have said in recent months that renovation plans are underway, and that it’s likely too late to save the carousel, despite many complaints from parents.

Gary Delsohn, vice president of communications for the Irvine Co., could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.

“Whenever we hear from a dissatisfied customer, we try to rectify the situation,” John Christensen, a spokesman for the Irvine Co., told the Daily Pilot in November. “Unfortunately, on this issue, our plans for the center are complete. There simply isn’t space for us to relocate the carousel.”

An online petition a local mother has started to save the carousel had gathered about 1050 signatures as of Saturday afternoon.

The petition can be accessed at www.ipetitions.com/ petition/savethecarousel /index.html.