Rendering of new animal shelter released
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Progress on a new home for local shelter animals continues as city officials are sharing what the building could look like.
The St. Joseph City Council will vote on a $4.7 million contract with E.L. Crawford for construction of the new animal shelter at 3405 S. Belt Highway at its March 17 meeting.
“This is such a huge leap in the right direction,” said Holly Bowie, animal control and rescue manager in St. Joseph. “We're just to the point where we realize that it's actually going to come to fruition, so it's very exciting for all of our staff and volunteers, and I think a lot of community members as well.”
The city and animal shelter staff met regularly with Ellison-Auxier Architects, who designed the new building.
“I included a lot of my leadership staff as well so that we could really look at the efficiency and the flow within the new building to make sure that everything was going to operate properly,” Bowie said.
One shelter request Ellison-Auxier fulfilled in its design work was adequate space to house dogs and cats separately to avoid stressing the felines. The new building also will have more areas to visit with adoptable animals.
“We're really excited about just having more opportunities for the communities to engage with us at the shelter,” she said.
Bowie said she is meeting with her leadership staff weekly to prepare for the transition to the new building by going over each space.
“We're having really detailed conversations about what the room will function as, what items we're going to need in that room, which items we have and which items we're going to have to add,” she said.
Shelter staff also are discussing how they will conduct the move, but Bowie said she has not had specific conversations with city leadership about whether they will have to close during the transition.
"It's going to be something that we'll talk about in the coming days and when it gets closer to completion, and hopefully we won't have to close at all,” she said.
