After years of waiting, construction of Shelton's new animal shelter starts Monday.
Members of the building committee, shelter construction officials and Mayor Mark A. Lauretti put the first shovels in the ground Aug. 6 (Tuesday) on the site, set atop a hill overlooking Riverdale Avenue.
The new shelter will be "safe and secure," "humane" and have a comfortable space for pet adoptions, said Gerry Craig, building committee chairman.
Bismarck Construction of Milford is building the $1.4 million facility. "We are confident they are the best choice for this project," Craig said.
Lauretti said the shelter should be completed by spring 2014 and thank everyone involved in the project.
"There are many projects that are ongoing. This project languished on for a very long time [but] the Building Committee stayed the course."
Voters overwhelmingly approved the project in November 2012.
"We're going to have a wonderful facility for our distressed animals. The support for the shelter is tremendous in this community. We're going to answer the call on [animals'] behalf," Lauretti said.
The building's architect said the shelter is designed to look more like a home.
"The intent was to make it feel residential," he said. There will be 30 dog kennels with access to windows and room for the animals to move, and cat condos for 20 felines, he said.
The adoption room is meant to "feel like a living room," the architect said.
Topping off the building will be a weather vane found by building committee member Linda Hooper. The metal vane has dogs on it.
The current shelter, at 20 Riverdale Ave., has repeatedly failed environmental and agricultural inspections, was over capacity at one point and does not take in cats.
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