Staff at the Blount County Animal Center aim to grow their facility on Currie Avenue amid increasing crowding, but their plans are now up against a new hurdle: ballooning cost estimates.
Price projections for the expansion plan have nearly tripled since their inception, spiking to about $2.9 million, as of February, from an earlier estimate closer to $1 million. As a consequence, the center’s staff hope to split the project into phases, prioritizing needs such as veterinary services and housing for animals.
In recent meetings, the center’s director, Ron Crowe, discussed the need for new plans and the path forward for the 15-year-old shelter.
Growing pains
Growth has been a consistent feature at the center in recent years. Though 2023 was relatively slow — animal intakes were down by 2% over 2022 — the center saw growth in intakes of around 5% in 2022. In 2021, a year Crowe said represented a major outlier because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the center’s intakes were up by 37%.
“We’re on track right now to hit anywhere from 5% to 8%, depending on cats or dogs, increase this year,” Crowe said at the latest meeting of the Blount County Animal Center Advisory Board, held in late February. The shelter takes in around five new animals every day, he noted.
Areas for cats and large dogs are especially tight on space, he said.
The Blount animal center is the only publicly funded open-admission shelter in the county. When pet owners or other members of the public try to surrender an animal, the county’s center can’t turn them away.
And with finite space at the shelter and a growing population in the county itself, the situation has put some urgency into a plan to expand.
Chris Protzman, a member of the advisory board, noted the proliferation of apartment complexes in the area. Protzman’s involvement with the project dates back years; he speculated that the number of apartment rentals might contribute to some of the surrenders the center’s seen.
Crowe said that the rules at some apartment complexes could also be a factor driving renter surrenders. “It doesn’t seem to be slowing with our population growth and apartments. A lot of these apartments have put strict restrictions on the weights of dogs and breeds,” he said.
A new approach
A 2022 report from The Daily Times states that initial costs for an expansion were estimated at about $1 million. Later reporting cites a $1.1 million figure. Early plans included changes such as a larger area for cat intake, quarantine kennels and storage, as well as veterinary capacity, according to the 2022 report.
There were also additions made to the plan over the years, Protzman said during the February meeting.
“We added other things as we went, because you’re at the buffet and you go, ‘I’d like to have that too,’” he commented.
Cost inflation and additions have made an impact. Sparkman & Associates Architects recently provided the center with an updated $2.9 million estimate of the expansion cost. The number triggered some sticker shock, and Crowe noted that the estimate was far higher than expected.
If the estimate is borne out through a public bidding process, it could force some changes to the buildout. Things like perimeter fencing might be cut from the final plan, Crowe noted.
“It would be nice, but a necessity is housing,” for the animals, Crowe said. Critical care and veterinary space are also high priority.
“Donated funds bring us so far, and we can ask for a little buffer, but we weren’t expecting a $1.5 million increase from the original,” he added.
The center currently plans on splitting the project into phases to help with costs. One phase is intended to make some new room for cats, a puppy quarantine area and an X-ray area, among other additions. In another phase, the center would work towards additions including dry storage expansion and large dog kennels.
“It’s gonna be a multi-year project,” Crowe said. “Break it back and break the shiny things off of it.”
{span style=”font-size: 1.17em;”}Costs{/span}There are a few means for the center to defray its costs, Crowe noted during a Friday, April 5, county budget meeting.
The Friends of the Blount County Animal Center have raised more than $700,000 for the expansion. The center can also use $100,000 in the center’s donation reserve line, according to information presented during Crowe’s April turn in front of the county budget committee. Some donations to the animal center are directed at specific projects, limiting their applicability toward the overall expansion project.
The center’s budget is also bolstered by $88,000 in funds the county approved for a new roof.
And during the February meeting, advisory board members Mike Akard, a county commissioner, and Carl Koella, mayor of the city of Rockford, both noted that the estimate wasn’t necessarily reflective of the price the center would pay for the project.
The expansion had not been put out to bid as of press time Wednesday, April 10, according to information on the Blount County government’s purchasing portal.
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