Council approves funds for Pony Express statue repairs

Riley Funk, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
·2 min read

Jan. 22—The Pony Express Monument is set to receive $175,000 in funding for much-needed repairs.

The St. Joseph City Council voted 9-0-0 in unanimous favor of the funds at Monday night's meeting.

The $175,000 will come from American Rescue Plan Act funds and will go toward repairing the granite base of the statue, along with other restoration to the iconic landmark.

Mayor John Josendale said the statue sits as a gateway to the Downtown area, and it was of vital importance to preserve the historic landmark.

"Our history is so important," Josendale said. "It's important we look at that through the beautification of the city and how we make it an attractive place."

City documents point out that the south side of the structure is cracked and bulging. It also lists the potential cause for the damage as water seeping into the inside of the granite base.

The need for repairs was evident, because if harsh weather created more cracks on top of the existing ones, they would only continue to weaken the structure. Josendale said the statue project can be used as an example of the city putting ARPA funds to good use. There are several points council members have to consider when choosing which city projects will receive funds.

"When we look at things that affect people and that can be used long term to help," Josendale said, "whether it be the image of the city, operations of the city, whether it be things that you don't normally just have the ability to do ... it's important to be able to use it in the best way possible."

The statue also faced some vandalism in late 2023 from spray paint. Josendale said the vandalism did play a role in getting the funds passed, but it wasn't the main reason.

"When it really came to our attention that there was issues with the base itself, the importance of making sure that was fixed as quickly as possible. And that probably played more into it than the vandalism," Josendale said.

According to city documents, Jensen Conservation will be awarded the contract for the project. It has been previously reported the project will be completed sometime during 2024.

Other notes:

ARPA funds were also passed for more improvements to the Civic Arena. The first was passing $87,069 for an LED scorers table, two basketball scoreboards and three locker room clocks. The Civic Arena will also receive $50,000 for a sound system assessment and improvement.

Riley Funk can be reached at riley.funk@newspressnow.com.