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GREENSBORO - Round and round and round it goes, and where it stops the Greensboro Rotary Club knows. So does the Weaver Foundation.

Thanks to officials at the foundation, the $2 million carousel the Rotary Club wants to give to the city will get a new home even before it occupies its first one.

New plans call for the carousel to spin on the foundation's property on Church Street, next to the Greensboro Children's Museum.

"This is a substantially better location," said Bernie Mann, a former president of the club. "Being right next door to the Children's Museum is a dream come true."

The club announced in September that it planned to build the carousel on a ¾-acre plot of city-owned land bounded by Church Street, Summit Avenue and Lindsay Street.

But about 2½ months ago, Weaver Foundation President Skip Moore approached Mann with a better idea.

"It was like manna from heaven," Mann said.

Children's Museum officials like the new location, too.

"It's the right place for it to be," said Melanie Soles, past chairwoman of the museum's board of directors. "I think it's a fabulous thing. I'm glad that the parties could work it out."

The new location likely will involve a land swap between the museum and the foundation that will allow the two organizations to square off a joint property line and place the carousel across from YMCA Place.

That location will make the carousel more visible from the heart of the city's cultural district, which includes the Greensboro Cultural Center, the Greensboro Historical Museum and the Greensboro Central Library.

Club officials said they don't know how much land the carousel will require.

Once the carousel is built, the club wants to donate it to the city.

If that happens, the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department would operate it.

The club wants to raise $1 million for the carousel, which will feature panels and wooden elements with a Greensboro theme and $1 million for a building to house it.

"It's going to be gorgeous," said Carole Bruce, the club president. "It's going to be a beautiful structure."

Bruce said the club wants to raise an additional $500,000 to serve as an endowment to provide money for upkeep.

The club hasn't selected a builder, but officials say work on the carousel should begin later this year and take 18 months to finish.

The addition of the carousel to the cultural district comes at a time when the area is getting considerable attention.

City officials have been studying the potential for the area for several months.

In addition, the Children's Museum is considering major changes to its property. Officials said those plans could be revealed in the next few months.

And the Weaver Foundation has been looking at options for the rest of its property at the corner of Church Street and Friendly Avenue.

"(The carousel) will set the tone for the rest of the property," Moore said.

"We don't see that just sitting there on an island by itself," he said.

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com