Rockingham County horse park remains hot topic

Rockingham County residents filled the commissioners’ chambers almost to capacity at Monday’s meeting. About 22 people signed up to speak during the public comment period. Most spoke in opposition of the proposed Horse Park of the South.

Katherine Truitt, executive director of the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Va., made a special trip to Wentworth to address the crowd about the problems at her horse center, and others in the country.

“We’ve been around for about 25 years and it’s such as beautiful facility,” she said. “We have events every single weekend and we even have waiting lists, but we just can’t make ends meet. Our operations simply cannot cover our expenses.”

Truitt was on the foundation at the horse center for five years before she took the post of executive director. The center received a long-term loan of $11.5 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to purchase the center from the state of Virginia in 2007. She said since that time, turning a profit has been difficult.

County manager Tom Robinson said he was “puzzled” that Truitt came to Rockingham County, because county officials weren’t notified of her visit until the Thursday before the meeting. Contrary to her statements, Robinson said they had a written letter from Truitt stating the horse center would be fine if not for the debt service payment on the USDA loan.

The total estimated cost for the Horse of the South now stands at a little over $22 million. Robinson said the jump from $13 million stems from a decision to build a large arena.

“When we met with realtors, they said the project is a really great idea, but that we really needed to build the big arena,” he said. “And we questioned how much it would cost.”

The new arena tacked on an extra $9 million. It would include between 2,500 and 3,500 seats, with room for portable seating. Robinson said fund-raising for the shortfall of $12 to $15 million would be possible, even though Truitt said in her experiences, fund-raising wasn’t so easy for this type of industry.

“As a board member, we brought in consultants and we spent a lot of money trying to raise funds,” Truitt said. “The economy is terrible, so I think the idea of trying to raise this money is ridiculous. It’s a joke.”

Robinson said the Virginia Horse Center has too much infrastructure, and as a result has been “hard-pressed” to cover its expenses. He said the Horse Park of the South would operate more economically and have less overhead expense than the Virginia Horse Center.

“We will have the direct economic impact from the shows themselves – we would have 100,000-plus people per year – and they would spend time in the community,” he said. “We would also have the added benefit of being established as an equestrian area which would bring people here.”

Truitt was asked to attend the commissioner’s meeting by Thomas Harrington, chairman of the local citizens’ watchdog group Will of the People. Harrington said his group has been in contact with Truitt for several months about the state of her horse center. He delivered her introduction to the crowd.

“I’m pleased that Ms. Truitt agreed to come down here – she’s got no iron in the fire – and I don’t think she’s concerned about the competition the Horse Park of the South might give her,” Harrington said.

Although there were many dissenters among those who spoke, there were several people still in support of the horse park.

Lee Carter, a Summerfield resident, said he saw the horse park as an economic driver for the county.

“This is an opportunity for this county to have something special that differentiates itself and capitalizes on the horse industry,” he said. “The equine industry is known to bring in spendable dollars for hotels and restaurants. I think this is the vehicle we can use to change the perspective of what’s happening in the county.”

Robinson said the county does not have the funds to build the horse park, and will not spend any tax dollars to do it. A study to determine the feasibility of conducting a private fund-raising campaign is currently being explored, according to Robinson.