A collision between a motor vehicle and the Carousel at Chippewa Park has taken the ride out of commission.

The incident occurred sometime between Friday evening and Saturday morning and caused what at first glance looks to be significant damage to the century old attraction.

It wasn’t the call  Supervisor of of Park Operations for the south side of Thunder Bay, Tom Forsythe, was expecting or hoping to receive Saturday.

“It was a rather large lump in my stomach when I was going out to figure out what happened.”

While it was unfortunate to have occurred, out of all the possibilities, it appears to be a best case scenario for the incident according to Forsythe.

“The only piece of the ride that appears to have been damaged was a carousel that was due to be replaced this fall anyway, none of of the restoration work that the volunteers have been involved in was damaged at all.”

Two pieces of deck plating which are assembled every year were moved a little and a support beam on the attraction was bent as a result of the impact.

Thunder Bay Police have attended the scene and removed the vehicle, while the ride remains closed off.