The aging Tri-Cities Animal Shelter is finally getting replaced. What’s coming next?
An aging Tri-Cities Animal Shelter is getting replaced more than a decade after advocates began calling for a change.
A groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday will mark the start of a $4.1 million project to build a nearly 10,000-square-foot building on 18th Avenue in Pasco.
The Nov. 30 event is at 10 a.m.
“We hope the community can come out and celebrate this wonderful milestone,” Pasco Interim City Manager Adam Lincoln said in a news release. “We especially want to thank our Tri-Cities partners for their support to make this day happen.”
Construction is expected to start in December and last about a year, said Zach Ratkai, the administrative and community services director.
The new facility is nearly 1,000 square feet larger than the current complex of three buildings that makes up the existing animal shelter.
The new site is expected to feature a separate area for visitors to be able to meet and spend time with their prospective pets, an exam room for sick and injured animals and improved access from the street.
It will be able to hold more animals, including 74 dogs, 84 cats and 24 kittens.
And the location will mean volunteers can continue to take advantage of the existing trail system when they are walking the animals.
While the shelter is administered by Pasco, it’s funded through a joint effort of Pasco, Kennewick and Richland.
Each of the cities put $2 million toward the project, including helping to pay for designing the new building.
An aging facility
The new facility will be the culmination of more than a decade of calls for a new shelter to replace the aging buildings. A 2016 study confirmed that the complex needed replacing.
The main metal building is about 7,000 square feet and dates to the 1950s.
Two outbuildings were added in the 1970s. It operated as a Human Society shelter until Animal Control took over in 2001.
People complained about poor ventilation in the buildings, hard to fix pipes and an aging electrical system.
One group that rose up around wanting a replacement was #NothingFancyJustFunctional Facebook group. They helped circulate signs calling for an improved shelter.
News of the groundbreaking was met with excitement by its members.
Pasco takes over management
The groundbreaking comes a little more than a month after the city of Pasco officially took over running the animal shelter.
The city initially took on managing the service in July after the Benton-Franklin Humane Society finished a short-term contract after a serious of problems when it was operated by private contractors.
City officials decided that a series of contractors had created a situation where the nonprofits were too busy trying to raise funds and manage the shelter.
The cycle left the shelter in an unstable position even before 30 sick cats and four malnourished dogs were found at the shelter in November 2021, according to a report from interim shelter Manager Angela Pashon.
The contractor responsible for the animals’ condition, Neo’s Nation Animal Foundation, was immediately fired.
The city council decided in October that the city would take over management.
Pasco, Richland and Kennewick will all contribute to the $2 million annual budget to provide animal control and shelter services for the three cities, according to a release from the city of Pasco. The other two cities supported the change.