Juneau Animal Rescue may have a location for a new, updated shelter.
At Monday’s Assembly meeting, members gave the OK for the city manager to negotiate leasing a parcel of city property to the rescue for less than fair market value.
JAR Board Member Kevin Ritchie said the next step is to raise enough funds to design and build the new shelter once the lease is approved. Building costs are expected to be between $15 and 20 million.
“To make a project go forward, to start raising money, you need to have a place to put the project,” he said. “You need to describe what it’s going to look like and how much it’s going to cost.”
JAR leadership has been fundraising for a new building for the last few years. They say the current shelter isn’t meeting the needs for sheltering animals in Juneau.
The roof leaks and the floors have started to sink. A 2021 inspection showed the facility doesn’t meet national standards. Ritchie said the shelter often finds itself at or near capacity, especially in summer.
“The big thing is that the current shelter was built back in 1984 and that was before there were national standards for the treatment of animals,” he said. “And frankly, it just wasn’t built to be a very good housing for animals.”
JAR says the new facility would ideally have a better ventilation system to help prevent the spread of diseases, and more space for cats, dogs, and smaller animals like rodents and reptiles.
The city land JAR may lease is in the Mendenhall Valley, and the shelter would share it with the Southeast Alaska Food Bank. Ritchie said the construction timeline depends on how quickly the organization can raise funds.
