Denton officials turned dirt at the site of the soon-to-be-expanded Linda McNatt Animal Care & Adoption Center, the city’s animal shelter, during an Aug. 12 groundbreaking ceremony.
What happened?
Members of Denton City Council, the animal shelter’s staff and volunteers were on hand for the ceremonial groundbreaking, which originally was scheduled for April. Denton Mayor Chris Watts said the updates to the shelter show how much Denton residents and officials care about adoptable animals.
“This is a testament to our community, the volunteers, the staff, council members and to the entire city on making sure we care for our animals and do the best job we can do,” Watts said.
The shelter will be completely renovated and expanded by 9,000 square feet, making it a 27,000-square-foot facility, according to previous reporting. The updates include entrances for people looking to adopt, for those surrendering pets and for animal services to bring in strays for health and safety regulations.
Byron Woods was on the 2023 bond committee that ranked renovating the animal shelter as one of the city’s priorities. He said after touring the facility in 2023, he decided to become a volunteer to walk the dogs a few days a week.
“I recently retired and was looking for something fun to do that was exercise, " Woods said. “[Shelter staff] got me right into a class to be a dog volunteer, and I’ve been doing that since.”
Other updates include play yards for dogs in quarantine, which currently don't exist, as well as an expanded veterinary clinic, larger cages and dog runs, a new space for exotic animals and maternity rooms for pregnant dogs and cats.
The backstory
The renovation and expansion comes after the city approved a construction manager-at-risk contract worth $17.5 million, according to previous reporting. The total maximum budget for the project is $20.35 million.
Funding for the project comes from the voter-approved 2023 city bond, which ranked updating the animal shelter as one of the priorities to receive funding. The animal shelter expansion falls under Proposition D of the bond, which is worth more than $42 million in funding and falls under the city's public safety umbrella, according to the city’s website.
“We toured this facility back in 2023 and saw some of the issues,” council member Suzi Rumohr said. “I think there was no AC in the cat room. There was a shared HVAC between the quarantined and non-quarantined animals, which means diseases could be passed back and forth. So to see this come to fruition is really exciting.”
Looking ahead
The project will be broken down into three phases. The first will begin after the groundbreaking and includes the new construction. Services won't be impacted during this phase, according to previous reporting.
The second and third phases will occur at the same time and are scheduled to start in June 2027. Animal services will be affected during those phases, and the shelter will rely on local rescue groups, veterinarians, fosters and other shelters to help with intake during that time.
