Horse Sculpture To Be Installed At Shops At Harford Mall

BEL AIR, MD — When developers shared their plans to tear down the old Sears and put in a new complex called The Shops at Harford Mall, town officials stipulated as part of the project that a public art amenity would be required.

Because the project on the 4.4-acre lot is greater than 10,000 square feet, the Bel Air Planning Commission required a public art amenity or $10,000 donation to the arts in town.

Developers shared their vision for a sculpture at the site, and the selection was “very thoughtful,” Bel Air Economic Development Coordinator Angela Robertson said during the Bel Air Cultural Arts Commission's meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

“They’ve chosen a sculpture of horses in a nod to our history," Robertson said.

Before it was the Harford Mall, the land off Tollgate Road operated as the Bel Air Racetrack from the 1870s to 1960, according to The Racing Biz, which covers Thoroughbred racing in the mid-Atlantic.

The proposed sculpture consists of five attached horses fabricated from steel and finished in a bronze color. It will be 10 feet long, 4 feet high and 16 inches deep, Robertson said.

“I think it will fit very well into the site,” Robertson told the Bel Air Cultural Arts Commission, which unanimously approved of the proposed art amenity submitted by SJC Ventures, the developer of The Shops at Harford Mall.

The sculpture is made by Cricket Forge, according to the submission from SJC Ventures, which Robertson said had designed other public art pieces in the area. Two benches at Rockfield Manor were made by the company.

The Wild Horses Sculpture project is expected to cost $4,799, according to the developers. After it is installed, SJC Ventures agreed to give any funding left over from the $10,000 they were required to invest in the Bel Air Public Art Amenity Fund.

The Shops at Harford Mall is being built where Sears was. It will contain a grocery store spanning more than 43,000 square feet as well as over 16,500 square feet of retail space, according to plans from developer SJC Ventures.

After demolishing the old Sears in February and March, crews have spent the spring months so far preparing the site for new construction.

Developers say the horse sculpture will be installed in late summer 2022.

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