An inside look at the new horse stables on the National Mall

Lieutenant Anna Rose, the Commander of the Horse Mounted Patrol for the United States Park Police, spoke about the changes that have been made to the stables. 

“What it used to look like is pretty bad, so when I became the commander of the unit just about a year and a half ago I was so excited to be here at the end of this project and see the state-of-the-art facility,” Rose said.

Built between the D.C. War Memorial and Korean War Veterans Memorial, the 14 new stables will also have an exhibit where people can learn about the history of the horses. 

“We're standing in 1,000-square-foot brand-new education center. It’s going to be opening to the public for the first time, and the public will be able to come in and learn about the horses, the role of the mounted unit, the history of the unit, and really be inspired by how these wonderful, mounted unit officers and the horses protect and care for the National Mall,” said Catherine Townsend, President and CEO of the Trust for the National Mall. 

The stables also have several significant sustainability aspects. 

“This is a completely new facility from what was here before. There was a temporary building here built in the '70s, and it was built before any sort of regulations that we would have now, particularly in terms of storm water management," said Teresa Durkin, Executive Vice President of the Trust for the National Mall. "So, all of the runoff was going in the drain, directly into the Potomac River, and now we have a wonderful system here where we actually have a porous paving parking lot. So all of the rain that falls on this site is going into the ground and improving the water quality."

What about the waste produced by the horses? 

“We've got control systems for how we handle it manure and other things that you would have at a stable so that you wouldn't have any other facility is all being well managed with water quality measures in mind,” Durkin said.  

The facility will be open to the public starting in June. If you would like more information about the stables or the education center you can head over to the Trust for the National Mall website.