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Shelter nears completion
Published 12/5/2009 in Local News
By SHAJIA AHMAD
City officials hope by the end of this month to be able to begin moving animals from the current animal shelter at the southern edge of town to the new shelter that is nearing completion.
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Laurie Sisk/Telegram Daniel Powers, of American Millwright, does some final work in one of the dog kennels on Friday morning at the new animal shelter.
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Brad Nading/Telegram The new animal shelter is located at the northeast corner of Fleming Street and Terminal Avenue.
Inside the 7,450-square-foot building at the intersection of Fleming Street and Terminal Avenue, just a block south of Fulton Street, freshly painted sage- and sky-blue-colored walls welcome future animal adoption-seeking families in the front lobby and adoption rooms, where future pets can interact with current family pets. Two window-pane enclosed cat colonies, where cats can play inside, also welcome visitors and are features to promote adoption, City Engineer Steve Cottrell said.
Contractors currently are installing the last of 60 large stainless steel dog kennels, double the number originally budgeted for the nearly $700,000 facility.
It's a far cry from the city's current shelter at 206 Isabel Ave., Cottrell said, with double the space for both animals and people.
Near the dog kennels, contractors have installed three auto pressure water systems for easy cleaning, and the hallway walls inside the shelter are lined with NuPlank, a smooth, fiberglass board surface so workers can easily wipe them down.
In fact, a lot of the shelter's amenities are much nicer than originally planned for the facility, thanks to donated labor and material upgrades, Cottrell said.
"Some of these guys have really gone above and beyond," he said.
But Kenny Green, owner of Mid-America Millwright Service Inc., the general contractor for the shelter, won't say how much.
Green, a self-professed animal lover, declined to give the monetary value of his company's labor and material costs of some of the upgrades but said each contractor involved in the project, from plumbing to ceiling, has gone above and beyond to complete the shelter.
"I believe the way a community treats its animals is a sign of how it treats its people," Green said. "If a man cares for animals, he'll care for people, too."
Green's workers also lined the shelter walls with Acoustiblok. ProBuild, 1514 E. Fulton St., donated bricks for the building's exterior. Hemmert Acoustics, 5740 Dolittle Drive, assisted with drop-down ceiling tiles in several rooms and Morrison Supply, 2050 W. Mary St., donated a tankless hot water heater. All of it was above and beyond the call of completing the contract work for the shelter, Green said.
State inspectors are expected to examine the new building, which also can hold up to 40 cats, in the next two to three weeks, Cottrell said.
City commissioners also are considering a name change to Terminal Avenue because of the street's name association with end-of-life issues in the medical sense, Cottrell said.
Cottrell added that he is collecting suggestions from both the Finney County Humane Society and businesses along the street.
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Animal Shelter
I live in Liberal and I wish we could have a shelter like the one in Finney County here. Kudos to Finney County and all who helped!
Posted by: Donita on 12/5/2009