For the second summer in a row, the Heritage Railway and Carousel on the North Bay Waterfront will be closed to the public.
The organization admitted some uncertainty about a summer season back in late March but confirmed their stance of staying closed recently.
"We will be closed again for summer 2021 due to restrictions imposed because of COVID-19," the volunteer organization stated on its Facebook page.
"Sad to say, social distancing, sanitizing, concerns for both riders and volunteers, and other limiting factors make it impossible."
"The jewel of our North Bay Waterfront sits idle for another season.
"So very disappointing. Be well. Be safe folks. Will see you when we can."
See related: Ridership up at the North Bay Heritage Railway and Carousel
The organization made the tough call last June due to COVID-19 noting they could not get approval to operate through Ontario Technical Standards and Safety Authority.
The North Bay Heritage Railway and Carousel Company was also coming off a very good 2019 season.
The figures show 2,000 more rides in 2019 when compared to 2018 numbers.
“We had 57,600 rides, not including groups,” stated volunteer treasurer Don Coutts in the fall of 2019.
“Adding those groups, we would have been close to 60,000. It is getting back up to the high levels from years ago. It was down one or two years, but it is slowly climbing back up. We’re weather dependent but we did have more group bookings this year.”
The miniature railway got its start in North Bay back in 1994 and the Heritage and Winter Wonderland carousels opened in 2005.
