Austin Pets Alive! looks to expand facilities, rebuild Town Lake center in $45M project

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Pets Alive plans to take its "deteriorating" building in central Austin and rebuild it with expanded facilities across Central Texas, the nonprofit announced Monday.

The four-part, multi-year project comes as the 75-year-old building faces ongoing issues with flooding and temperature control issues during winter months and during heat waves. The new facilities will eliminate these issues and bring the building up to code, Austin Pets Alive! CEO and President Dr. Ellen Jefferson said.

Jefferson said the nonprofit hoped to build one, new, large facility at the Town Lake site since the city and nonprofit recently agreed to a 75-year lease. However, they must build a smaller footprint facility because of limitations from power lines and underground water pipes, according to the nonprofit.

Instead, Austin Pets Alive will take its complex and divide it into different buildings to meet its growing operations. The nonprofit will rebuild its adoption and foster center at the Town Lake site and build three additional facilities across the Austin area.

These buildings include a vet hospital, a transport hub and a rehabilitation center for animals needing behavioral support. Renovations for the hospital are already underway, and APA hopes to open the building in July, pending about $1.2 million in donations.

Jefferson hopes the new facilities can help APA reimagine its future as an animal shelter, including a foster-centric model with fewer caged animals.

"There's so much opportunity ahead of us...we really are using this opportunity to move from Town Lake to carve out what animal sheltering should look like and what the building should look like in the future," she said.

One benefit of having multiple locations is expanding the nonprofit's access, Jefferson said.

"If we have operations that are happening in different quadrants of the city, then that just helps expand the network of people that can help save lives and open up their home temporarily or permanently to a pet in need, which is a win-win for everybody," Jefferson said.

In total, the nonprofit is trying to raise $45 million for the project and already has a $10 million donation toward that goal.

The four-part project is underway, and a full project timeline is on APA's campaign website. Donations for the nonprofit's facilities can be made online.