A series of shovels and a helping paw from Iris, a 6-year-old retriever mix, broke ground on the site of the planned Fairbanks North Star Borough animal shelter at Leasure Street on Tuesday.
The ceremony cements the next stage of the long-planned facility after nearly four years of community input and debate, Assembly review and appropriations.
According to a borough news release, Iris, a 100-pound dog who has been at the shelter since May after being found as a stray, dug the first hole.
The Assembly awarded the bid contract to Watterson Construction for $17.4 million in April, far shy of the $29.25 million borough engineers initially estimated. The overall project had a $33 million price tag, including scoping and design, and the purchase of the new site in 2022.
“It’s exciting to see this project move from planning to construction,” said Kimberly Imbert, the Animal Shelter operations supervisor. “I’ve had the opportunity to be involved from the beginning, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see a vision for our community’s animal shelter become a reality.”
The single-story, 22,232-square-foot facility is designed to serve current and future borough residents and Animal Control needs.
The new animal shelter includes larger dog kennels with central drop-down doors that could be used to double capacity as needed, expanded cat capacity, dedicated isolation rooms for dogs, cats and other animals, a modernized animal shelter surgery area, and a sufficient area to house both shelter staff and Animal Control officers.
The current facility has been plagued with high energy costs, poor drainage, inadequate facilities for spay-neuter procedures and cramped conditions that can stress the animals.
A 2016 needs assessment identified that the current shelter at Davis and Peger streets was at the end of its operational lifespan.
“Today marks the beginning of an important investment in animal care for our community,” Borough Mayor Grier Hopkins said in a Tuesday statement. “The new facility will provide a modern space for animal care and adoption services for years to come.”
The groundbreaking featured borough elected officials and staff, Animal Control staff and commissioners, project partners and community members.
The new facility is expected to be completed in 2028.