Long-awaited animal shelter finally breaks ground

Long-awaited animal shelter finally breaks ground

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

It was hot. The rocky, dusty lot at the foot of Mt. Trashmore wasn’t exactly inviting. And dark rain clouds threatened to continue the showers that had come and gone all morning.

But the approximately 75 people who attended the Nov. 30 groundbreaking ceremony for the new animal shelter on Stock Island had come a long way, figuratively speaking, to get to this point. The Florida Keys SPCA has been actively raising money since 2012 to build a new $8 million shelter that will house up to 300 animals while they wait for adoption. Jane Dawkins, the organization’s president, said the effort to build a new shelter almost “fizzled out” several times during the process.

“There were many times we wondered if it was going to get done in our lifetime,” she said. “We are enormously grateful.”

A few canine attendees marked the new location on College Road in their usual way. One of them was more interested in drinking water out of the iced bucket holding bottled water than the actual groundbreaking. But the enthusiasm of the FKSPCA officials, volunteers and donors more than made up for it.

“It’s a big day,” said FKSPCA Executive Director Tammy Fox, blinking back tears. “It’s been a long time coming.”

The major hurdle was money, of course. Early estimates to build the facility came in around $6 million and the FKSPCA board of directors created a capital campaign to raise the funds, ultimately bringing in $6.1 million. But the cheers over that accomplishment were dashed when the project went out to bid and came back $2 million above estimates, forcing fundraisers to go back to their donors. But most who could give already had and the deadline to respond to the contractors’ bids was fast approaching. Unless a contract was signed with low bidder D.L. Porter Constructors, Inc., by Oct. 7, the whole bid process would have to be started over, with the price likely to rise.

Enter both the Monroe County Commission and the Key West City Commission. Moved by the pleas from shelter officials, county commissioners kicked in $1.5 million. And Key West added another almost $149,000, which will be paid back to the city to cover building permit fees. The finish line was finally reached.

“This will allow us to house about 300 animals so that they are not cramped, in comfortable and safe housing,” said Fox.

The current shelter, also located on College Road, is about 40 years old and, SPCA officials say, is in deplorable condition. Regular flooding occurs during rainstorms and too many animals are contained in too small a space, they say.

Actual construction of the new shelter began prior to the groundbreaking. D.L. Porter has already cleared the site, which sits between the new city bus garage and the Gerald Adams Elementary School on College Road. Construction is expected to be completed in December 2017.

But between now and then, the fundraising machine will still be active, according to President Dawkins.

“We’ve still got $1 million to go. We’ve got to outfit and furnish this building. And we will,” she promised.

About 3,000 animals pass through the current shelter each year. Shelter staff and volunteer also handle another 3,000 animal control calls annually from Mile Markers 0-70. Those calls range from barking dogs to animal cruelty to lost animals.

“That’s us,” said Fox. “There is no city animal control officer.”

In addition to 13 full-time shelter staff in Key West, another six staffers are based in Marathon. And volunteers help out regularly.

“We could not do what we do without our volunteers. We have 100 active volunteers right now, which is absolutely amazing,” Dawkins said.

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