St. Joseph breaks ground on long-awaited new animal shelter on South Belt Highway
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- Crowds of eager residents gathered Tuesday to witness the start of a much-anticipated project to bring a new animal shelter to St. Joseph.
Shovels officially broke ground Tuesday on the first day of construction for the new $5 million shelter at 3405 S. Belt Highway, next to the St. Joseph Recycling Center, a project 10 years in the making.
St. Joseph Animal Services Manager Holly Bowie called it a surreal day for her, residents and countless animal supporters who have worked tirelessly to advocate and make the project a reality.
"It feels like this isn't real because we've wanted it and needed it for so long. That's kind of the first emotion is like, 'This is actually happening," Bowie said. “We're just ecstatic."
With construction now officially a go, Bowie said the goal is to have animal shelter staff move into the new facility in late June of 2026. She praised the nonprofit Friends of the Animal Shelter as being one of the catalysts for the project due to their unwavering support and tireless fundraising efforts over the last 10 years.
FOTAS raised nearly $1.7 million to pair with $3.3 million in Capital Improvements Program funding to finance design and construction.
"I think it was really important that we never gave up and I give a lot of credit to friends of the shelter for that because they drove the train for so long. They pushed for the capital campaign. I'm just really excited to have such a great group to work with," said Bowie.
E.L. Crawford Construction of St. Joseph is now tasked with building the 13,000-square-foot facility, a significant upgrade of 5,000 additional square feet compared to the aging and outdated facility at 701 S.W. Lower Lake Road.
One request that shelter architect Ellison-Auxier was able to fulfill in its design work was adequate space to house dogs and cats separately to avoid stressing the felines. The new building will also have more areas to visit with adoptable animals.
“Having a new facility that's got bigger spaces for our animals and being able to separate the animals that are maybe not as well versus the healthy, adoptable animals ... versus the animals that have just come in and need monitoring," said Meghan Casias, a longtime Animal Services volunteer and new board member. "Really, just improving the safety for our animals is a huge thing, not to mention just being more welcoming for our community."
The proposed shelter is also being designed with a vet clinic as well, a smaller suite capable of providing surgeries and other services carried out by shelter staff, a much-needed addition for the community.
News-Press NOW will update this story.
