Samson, Scooter and Toby, the horses in the Richmond Police Department’s Mounted Unit, will not be getting a new home.

Without any fanfare, City Hall has dropped plans for developing a modern 12-stall stable at Crestview and Government roads in the East End.

For now, the horses will remain in the condemned, cinderblock barn under the underpass on Brook Road near Gilpin Court.

The reason the new home for the horses was nixed: Cost.

The city had budgeted $1.5 million, but bids from four construction companies showed that would fall far short.

The bids ranged from $2.53 million to $2.7 million — nearly nine times the $330,000 cost that former Police Chief Alfred Durham estimated in 2016 when he first requested funding for a new stable and nearly four times the $725,000 that was estimated in 2017.

The city’s decision to cancel the project has been posted on the procurement section of the city government website since Jan. 3, but drew little attention even from stable supporters.

“I’m disappointed that this has happened,” said Glenwood W. Burley, a retired city police officer who has led the stable replacement effort. He first learned of the decision on Jan. 24, when contacted by the Free Press for comment.

Mr. Burley, who led the effort to relocate the Richmond Police Memorial statue to Byrd Park, said he had been making plans for a spring groundbreaking for the stable in the belief the project was still on track, but now has put those plans on hold.

“As much as a setback as this is,” he said, “we will continue to pursue our options for putting the heartbeat back into this much needed project. But one thing is certain: This decision and the delay it will cause will continue the abuse to which our police horses are subjected by having to remain where they are.”

The current stables were condemned in 2002. The stables later flooded during tropical storms that slammed Richmond in 2004 and 2008,

According to the Richmond Regional Mounted Police & Stable Project committee, the proposed stable would be a regional center with 12 stalls to accommodate horses from other law enforcement agencies that had indicated an interest, including the Capitol Police and the Virginia Commonwealth University Police Department.

The planned facilities were to include training rings, locker rooms for riders, a community meeting space, offices, pasture areas and other amenities, along with the horse stalls.

While the Friends of the Richmond Mounted Squad support group has been urging that new stable be developed, the group has been able to raise only relatively small amounts, including $80,000 last year.

Leslie Buck, president of the Friends group, said the donations could pay for items that are not budgeted, such as equipment and medications for the horses or to buy new horses.