In May, the city of Denton announced it approved a Construction Manager-At-Risk contract to allow crews to begin renovating and expanding the Linda McNatt Animal Care & Adoption Center, which is the city's animal shelter.
This contract was approved for $17.5 million, with most of the funding coming from the voter-approved 2023 bond. The funding will allow the shelter to expand its current facility by 9,000 square feet, providing more space and safer health measures for the animals, employees, volunteers and visitors, said Nikki Sassenus, Denton's director of animal services.
Two-minute impact
The Linda McNatt Animal Care & Adoption Center opened in February 2015 and was constructed as a brand-new 18,000-square-foot facility at 3717 N. Elm St. With the expansion, the current facility will be renovated and cover 27,000 square feet.
While the shelter will be bigger, Sassenus said the intake won't grow by much. The capacity will expand from 227 animals to 249. The distribution of the spaces will be reformatted to better fit the needs of the isolation and quarantine areas and provide larger living spaces.
The health and safety aspect for both the animals and people is another reason for the expansion. Sassenus said the only way to bring animals into the center is through the lobby, where people are waiting.
With the new facility update, there will be an entrance for people looking to adopt, an entrance for surrendering pets and an entrance for animal services to bring in strays.
"We needed to provide expansion space for easier adoption, more cages and better quarantine areas," Denton Mayor Chris Watts said. "Something that would better help take care of the animals, the staff and people who come there to potentially adopt from the shelter."
Other upgrades include play yards for dogs in quarantine, which currently don't exist. Sassenus said healthy dogs and quarantined dogs take turns sharing the play yards, and staff and volunteers have to sanitize the yards every time between sessions, which Sassenus said isn't the most efficient use of time.
The veterinarian area will also be expanded to give better care to sick or wounded animals, Sassenus said. Current vet services, which include spaying, neutering, microchipping and basic vaccinations, will remain the same.
The funding
Nearly $16 million of the funding for the expansion comes from Proposition D, which was part of the 2023 bond package. Denton County election results show that just over 68% of voters agreed to pass Proposition D, which is worth more than $42 million in funding and falls under the city's public safety umbrella.
Denton council member Suzi Rumohr was on the citizen's bond committee and said members ranked the importance of several Denton initiatives that were on the table to be included in the 2023 bond.
The animal shelter ranked eighth out of 15 items among committee members, which allowed the expansion to be included in the bond.
Kristine Stewart, the city's construction project manager, said an additional $4.5 million was approved by Denton City Council in December 2024 for certificates of obligation, bringing the available funding total to $20.35 million.
The $2.85 million difference between the total budget and the $17.5 million construction manager contract is for soft costs and project contingencies, like costs of permits and hiring an architect, Stewart said.
The need
From May 2025-May 2026, the shelter took in a monthly average of 369 animals, including cats, dogs, other domestic animals and wildlife. Rumohr said she expects that number to increase.
"In the 2023 presentation made by staff, they anticipated animal intake to increase by 38% by 2030," Rumohr said. "It's probably going to be more than that because we don't necessarily know how much more [the city is] going to grow."
Rumohr said the current shelter's need for an updated HVAC system to prevent cross contamination and better ventilation for the cat room also spurred the expansion to be part of the bond.
Zooming out
Bette Sherman, the past chair and co-founder of the Denton Animal Support Foundation, said the original city shelter was located next to the county jail at 300 S. Woodrow Lane.
"When I saw the old shelter, it took me to my knees. It was awful," she said. "In 2006, the shelter took in about 4,000 animals a year. The live exit rate was 40%, so 60% were euthanized."
Sherman started the foundation in 2006, which provides private funding for the city adoption center and other shelters in Denton County. The foundation created a board of directors and raised funds with the city for a new facility.
The shelter now has a 90.3% live release rate, according to city data. While most intakes are animals within city limits, Sherman said the shelter takes in roughly 20% of county animals, and many animals are often dumped within city limits.
Looking ahead
The project will be broken down into three phases. The first will begin with the groundbreaking Aug. 12 and includes the new construction. Services won't be impacted during this phase, Sassenus said.
The second and third phases will start in June 2027 and occur simultaneously, according to the city's website. Work includes renovating the existing building, and operations will temporarily move into the newly built space. Kennels available for adoptable and stray dogs will drop from 59 to 16.
Sassenus said the city is working with local rescue groups, veterinarians, fosters and other shelters to help with intake during that time.
