A Roslyn Landmark Society official said Friday that construction to the “middle pond” location in Gerry Park, where the society has begun building the foundation for the placement of the North Hempstead-owned Mackay “Horse Tamer” statue, was slowed somewhat due to the discovery of underground springs whose work has raised the projected price of the project.
Jay Corn, working on a committee appointed by the landmark society to oversee the project, said the springs were not taken into consideration when possible locations for the statue were discussed earlier this year, but added landmark officials were aware they were located below park grounds.
“You can dig a hole anywhere in Roslyn Park, and more likely than not, you’ll hit water,” Corn said.
Corn said the springs required the implementation of drainage stones and additional pilings that briefly slowed work, which began late last month.
The price to complete the foundation work, which had been estimated at a little more than $10,000, will likely increase to “the mid teens,” Corn said.
To cover the increase in costs stemming from the added work, Corn said the landmark society may decide to sell commemorative bricks inscribed with the names of donors.
Corn said once the statue’s erection is completed, the landmark society will hold an official unveiling and celebration at a local restaurant in commemoration.
North Hempstead historian and Roslyn Heights resident Howard Kroplick, who is overseeing the project’s engineering and construction, said the drainage stones were laid down so water flows around the statue’s foundation, adding the statue’s erection is still expected for completion by September.
“Everything is moving right on target right now,” Kroplick said.
Kroplick said the next step in the project is to dig the area on which the concrete foundation will be poured.
The “middle pond” location, located almost directly west of the statue’s original location, is within the often heavily-populated part of the park that landmark society officials say would be enhanced with the view of the Bryant Library and Roslyn Presbyterian Church behind it.
The 10-foot wide, six-foot long and four-foot wide statue, a replica of the Marly Horses commissioned by King Louis XVI of France in 1649, is one of two horses separated from the Mackay family’s former Harbor Hill estate. After the Mackay property was disassembled in 1947, the statue became part of a private residence in what is now the Country Estates neighborhood.
The statue, made from Tennessee pink marble, cost approximately $100,000 to restore and is currently being housed at North Shore Monuments in Glen Head, which did the restoration and is working on the foundation.
Efforts to reach North Shore Monuments were unavailing.
North Shore Monuments is also in possession of the other “Horse Tamer” statue, which became property of Roslyn High School.
A local grassroots group, called “Friends of the Horse Tamer,” is trying to raise $100,000 for its restoration.
