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Date: 7/7/2022
WEST SPRINGFIELD — It’s West Springfield has faced a setback in its push to build a bronze sculpture honoring the town’s most famous horse.
The Community Preservation Committee recently denied the nonprofit group’s request for funding to help build a statue of Figure, the progenitor of the Morgan horse breed, according to a letter sent to Roberta Page, president of It’s West Springfield.
Figure was born in a farm on Birnie Avenue in 1789, and was sold in 1792 to a Vermont farmer named Justin Morgan. The statue would depict the horse as a colt, consistent with his age when he lived in West Springfield. Figure’s offspring are considered the first of the Morgan breed of horses, one of the earliest horse breeds developed in the United States.
The organization hopes to build the statue in a prominent location in downtown West Springfield, in time to unveil it during the 250th anniversary of the town’s incorporation, in 2024. It’s West Springfield estimates the cost to build the statue will be between $250,000 and $350,000.
Page said she plans to appeal the ruling.
Town Council administrative assistant Kate Sullivan said that the reason the project was ineligible for a Community Preservation Act grant was that it does not fit the criteria for “historic restoration.”
The CPA is funded by a surtax on West Springfield property taxes and matching grants from the state. CPA funds are kept separate from the general town budget and can be spent only on capital projects related to historical preservation, affordable housing, open space and recreation.
According to the Community Preservation Coalition, an entity that helps municipalities adopt and implement the Community Preservation Act, open-air structures and park-like amenities, including monuments, are generally eligible for CPA funding under the “recreational use” section of the act, “so long as those activities take place on land dedicated to recreation.”
The state Community Preservation Act states that recreational use “shall not include horse or dog racing or the use of land for a stadium, gymnasium or similar structure.” In 1796, Figure won a $50 prize for winning New York Horses Sweepstakes race hosted in Brookfield, VT.
“He wasn’t horse racing when he was in West Springfield, so we’re not looking at that,” said Page.
Page said she is seeking alternative forms of funding for the project, including a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, individual donations from the local community as well as the international community of Morgan horse owners.
She told Reminder Publishing in March that she had been in contact with Morgan horse associations around the world, and many of them are interested in supporting the statue with gifts of thousands of dollars.
Individuals who wish to learn more may contact It’s West Springfield by email at itswestspringfield@gmail.com.