Ground was broken Thursday on a new $12.7 million horse stable for the U.S. Park Police Mounted Patrol.
The new facility will be in the heart of the National Mall, right between the Korean War Memorial and the D.C. War Memorial. It is the first upgrade for the Park Police Mounted Patrol since 1976. Their current facility has problems with its drainage and waste/water management systems.
“Most people that walk by here think it’s a maintenance facility, and they don’t realize there are horses here,” Catherine Townsend, president and CEO of Trust for the National Mall, told WTOP News.
The new facility features 16 stalls, new paddocks, room for horses to roam, room for events, more office space and a medical paddock. It also includes a 1,000-square-foot education center that will be open to the public.
The money was raised by the Trust for the National Mall and they are now hoping to raise another $3 million for maintenance.
“It’s a beautiful story … we’re really excited to bring that to the public,” Townsend said. “It’s going to be transformational to this section of the Mall.”