New life apparently is being breathed into a plan to build a new stable for the four horses of the Richmond’s Police Department’s Mounted Unit, thanks to an anonymous private donor.

An agreement is being crafted between City Hall and the donor that could yield the funding needed for the stable that has been proposed to go on city land at Government Road and Crestview Avenue in the East End, according to the city Department of Public Works.

“We’ve been waiting for the donor to review the agreement with both his legal team and lawyers for the contractor,” said Paige Hairston, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works.

Ms. Hairston stated that the agreement was discussed with the donor on July 13, with hopes that it could be inked in the coming weeks.

She said the donor “also is in the process of getting commitments from other donors for the total amount of the construction costs.”

The city put up $1.5 million in 2018 to build a new stable to replace the condemned metal barn on Brook Road where the unit’s horses are now housed. However, the project was dropped after construction bids came in $1 million over budget.

Former Richmond Police Officer Glenwood W. Burley, who has led the effort to secure a new stable, said he was unaware of this new initiative, but “I’m glad that it is taking place. We need a new stable for the horses.”

Richmond’s Mounted Unit was launched in the 1890s and ranks among the oldest such police units in the country.

Both the department and a community support group, Friends of the Richmond Mounted Squad, have sought a stable replacement since the current building was condemned in 2002. But private fundraising, until now, raised less than $100,000 over the years.

In its capital budget plan, the city still lists the project and notes that about $1.4 million remains from the original appropriation of $1.5 million. The cost of the project apparently ballooned because the property is a former landfill and far more site work was projected to be needed to create a proper foundation for the new barn.