South Mountain Carriage Company has operated at City Island’s Carriage House since May.
If anyone is looking to get rid of a sleigh, tell Mayor Eric Papenfuse.
City Island’s newest tenant could use one.
After successful summer and fall seasons operating out of City Island’s Carriage House, the South Mountain Carriage Company and Papenfuse officially cut the ribbon today.
“We love being here and hope everyone enjoys it as much as we do,” said Cynthia Michaud, co-owner alongside husband David Binner of South Mountain Carriage Company
Since May, South Mountain Carriage Company offers horse-drawn carriage rides around City Island, Riverfront Park and other Harrisburg neighborhoods from noon to dusk most Saturdays and Sundays.
“You both have brought such energy to the island. You recognize the wonderful asset we have here and I think that your perspective and your experience is contagious,” Papenfuse said to the owners.
Mayor Eric Papenfuse put out a public call for a sleigh, as the carriage company enters winter.
Papenfuse celebrated the installation of a new modern roof, costing the city and private funders more than $28,000 to install. The neighborhood group Friends of City Island played a crucial role in the renovation, Papenfuse said.
The previous tenant, Fred Lamke’s Harrisburg Carriage Company, left City Island’s carriage house in tattered conditions. The city booted the company in January after five years of unpaid rent and eight years of operating without a permit. The company accrued more than $6,000 of debt to the city since 2010 when the company stopped paying a $100 monthly rent.
Before South Mountain Carriage Company moved in, cobwebs, dust and dirt covered the barn. “You couldn’t even tell there were lights,” Papenfuse said.
Michaud said they spent more than 60 hours with a ShopVac cleaning up the space. Now, the space, cleaned up and organized, can comfortably accommodate their two draft horses and a miniature pony named Banjo on the weekends.
Now that the roof has been fixed, Michaud looks to improve the rest of the barn, provided they can raise enough funds. Michaud said that the windows need repairs, the walls could use fresh paint and lights need replaced.
Michaud and Binner have been operating in central Pennsylvania since 2014. The husband and wife team has five adult children, but no grandchildren yet.
“So we spoil our horses,” Michaud said.
For more information about South Mountain Carriage Company, visit their Facebook page.
Author: Danielle Roth
