McLean County Animal Control [MCAC] officially broke ground Tuesday on a new facility after 31 years in its current building.
Before officials put shovel to dirt at the site in rural Shirley south of Bloomington, County Board Chair Catherine Metsker acknowledged the work that has gone into this project, and the driving force behind it.
“We have a group of people who are working diligently to make all of this happen for McLean County, and especially for our animals that need care and love,” Metsker said.
The current shelter, built in 1993, currently stands at just over 5,000 square feet and holds about 90 cats and dogs up for adoption. The new building will be 11,000 square feet. With double the space, MCAC plans to add new amenities for the animals and improve its current services.
“They put a lot of emphasis on separating out the animals for disease prevention, natural lighting [and] the textures and structures so they benefit the animals' senses,” said director Marshell Thomson. “There’s going to be a lot of outside space ... so that the animals can have a lot of outside time, as well as ongoing training.”
The shelter will be built on 10 acres of land donated by the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District [BNWRD].
McLean County assistant administrator Anthony Grant said the land will give the shelter more room for dog walks and other outdoor care.
"We've got a bunch of walnut trees and it's just a gorgeous site," Grant said.
The total cost of the building will be around $7 million. The county is using about $2 million from the American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] to cover a portion of the cost.
The offices of state Sen. Dave Koehler and state Rep. Sharon Chung lined up $200,000 for the project through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
"Coming from the county board, I know the challenges that the Animal Control building had had over the last couple of years," said Chung, a McLean County Board member from 2018 to 2022.
The county approved a financing plan in 2022 to pay for the rest of the project. The bonds will be paid through 2038, Grant said.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a boom in pet adoption that eventually lead to a boom in pets returning to shelters as the world began to open again. The new facility will help MCAC supplement fundamental training skills these re-sheltered animals may have missed when they were first adopted in 2020.
“There’s a lot of things that will help a dog become a better pet in the home, and so we’re looking to showcase some of those services within our new facility and continue to grow with our community,” Thomson said.
The MCAC staff is currently slated to move into the new building in 2026.
