Albany Historic Carousel & Museum

Gerding managed the historic rehabilitation of this turn-of-the century building in downtown Albany into an area Carousel and Museum. The largest Carousel west of the Mississippi, the 22,000 SF building program included an enclosed dodecagon (12-sided)-shaped carousel room that stands 45’ tall with glulam and exposed beams, workspace for the member artisans to carve and paint new animals, an artifact museum, party room, community room, and gift shop. It also required a basement for rough carving, storage, and utility infrastructure.

The building was designed to provide very low maintenance to all finishes and systems for over a 50-year life cycle. Radiant floor heating, a continuously insulated building envelope, LED lighting, and sensor-controlled operable windows with cupola louvers were all part of a strategy to reduce heating and cooling energy consumption. This project was awarded third place in 2018 DJC Oregon Top Projects in Hospitality.