LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration will construct a fence around the Kentucky Governor’s Mansion at the recommendation of State Police after a May incident in which protesters heckled Beshear from outside the home and hung an effigy of the governor from a tree near the state Capitol.
“Recently, a group of armed demonstrators crossed over barriers to stand on the front porch of the mansion, just a window pane away from where the Governor and First Lady raise their two young children, and chanted for him to come outside,” Beshear spokeswoman Crystal Staley said in an emailed statement. “They then hung the Governor in effigy on Capitol grounds. At that time, the Kentucky State Police executive security requested a fence be built for the safety of the current and future first families.”
The state is soliciting bids from contractors to install a four-foot ornamental fence around the mansion with a powered gate and two manual gates, according to public documents.
The job will be done in the next two or three months, according to the documents.
A spokeswoman for the Finance & Administration Cabinet said a cost estimate won't be available until the bids are in and a winner is selected.
"The initial cost of the installation will be paid out of the Department for Facilities and Support Services budget," Finance Cabinet spokeswoman Jill Midkiff said in an email. "The private Kentucky Executive Mansion Foundation indicates they plan to vote on the possible reimbursement of this expenditure. It is believed that Kentucky’s Governor’s Mansion may be the only Executive Mansion in the United States that does not currently have security fencing."
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