Animal Shelter Construction Shows Growth and Variety by Garry Boulard Visitors to the Animal Humane New Mexico’s upgraded facilities at 615 Virginia Street SE in Albuquerque may not always leave with an adopted pet, but they are almost certain to enjoy the aesthetics of the experience. “We’re finishing up the landscaping and site work in the center of the campus,” says Peggy Weigle, the executive director of the facility. “With the facilities we had before, everything was jammed up,” continues Weigle. “We had two 30 year-old cinder block buildings that had really done their time.” The new shelter campus, designed by the Boulder-based Animal Arts, cost a total of $5.6 million and includes two new buildings with increased office space, an education and outreach center, and an expanded clinic. “We wanted to upgrade the facilities for every dog and cat on the property, whether they have just arrived, are available for adoption, or are being treated for some sort of illness,” notes Weigle. “But we also wanted to create a campus that is not sad and is instead bright and open and welcoming—a great place for a person to come and meet their new best friend.” The work at Animal Humane New Mexico, which was done by Albuquerque’s Klinger Constructors, is hardly the only new shelter construction in the country. Nationally, notes Barbara McLean, new animal shelters are being designed and built with an eye not to just providing housing for homeless dogs and cats, but making the surrounding environment healthy and happy. “It’s a more holistic approach,” says McLean, the executive director of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians. “There are now standards of care for the housing of an animal and the amount of space they need,” says McLean. “The shelters of today look after the medical, physical, emotional and even social needs of the animals.” Such new shelters, with an emphasis on space and light, also make things more pleasant for humans. Ive talked to people who have visited this or that older shelter and they have told me that it was such a sad experience that they would never go back,” says McLean, noting that such experiences impact negatively on adoption rates. “But if people have a good experience, whether or not they actually adopt an animal, they will tell other people about how nice the shelter is, which makes it more likely that those people will visit that shelter and adopt,” adds McLean. This November in Larimer County, Colorado voters will decide on a bond issue providing $13 million to build a new 38,800 square foot animal shelter just north of the Fort Collins/Loveland Airport. “The need is very great,” says Derek Brown, a marketing manager with the Larimer Humane Society. “The idea is to build a whole new building to replace the one we have that doesn’t really work anymore.” The current facility at 6317 Kyle Avenue was built in 1974, and even though the building has been added onto over the years, space remains an issue with crowded hallways and offices in a shelter that in fiscal year 2013 housed more than 6,300 animals. The new facility will be three times as large as the Kyle Avenue shelter, and according to a statement by the Larimer Humane Society, will have “natural light throughout the building as well as plumbing and ventilation systems that will help us keep everyone happy.” Similarly voters in Pima County, Arizona will decide on a $22 million bond issue to pay for new construction and renovations to the Pima Animal Care Shelter, a facility built in 1968 that saw nearly 24,000 dogs and cats last year. Officials with the shelter say the 24,500 square foot facility is so overcrowded that kennels that are designed for one dog often house four, while a cat room is regularly overflowing. An implementation plan for the bond says that the current Pima County facility houses “roughly 2.5 times the capacity of the building as originally designed.” Also in November voters in New Mexico’s Bernalillo County will decide on a $4.5 million bond for a new 25,000 square-foot shelter to replace the existing one in a former South Valley fire station. The county has additionally put aside $1.5 million for the project. Besides providing shelter space for homeless animals, the new facilities for the Bernalillo County Animal Care Services would include a veterinary clinic, lobby and office space, and room for an education center. According to the Humane Society of the United States there are currently up to 8 million dogs and cats housed in animal shelters nationally. An exact total for the number of operating shelters is not known, but McLean says she expects to see more new facility construction in the years to come. “We are still going to be seeing the old kinds of shelters in retrofitted buildings for some time to come,” she says. “But the movement now for those areas who can do it is to have new and great facilities.”
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 00:29:48 +0000
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