ONLY ON 10: An inside look into design plans for the new Lafayette Animal Shelter & Care Center
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY)- Plans are moving forward for the construction of the new Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center.
The new shelter will be twice the size of the current one.
In July, the Lafayette City-Parish Council approved allocating more money for the animal shelter. Plans for the new shelter began in 2015 under former Lafayette Parish President Joey Durel.
The city-parish council allocated about $5 million for the shelter back then.
In 2016, Mayor-President Joel Robideaux wanted to focus first on moving toward a “no-kill” shelter before building the new shelter.
Shelter officials say the money will come from a millage that voters approved in 2015.
The new 20,000 square foot animal shelter will be built on North Dugas Road, next to the LCG Compost Facility.
The new Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center is an important step in efforts to achieve a “no kill” status.
News 10 got an inside look with architects and shelter officials on what types of designs they’re finalizing for construction to begin at the beginning of next year.
“They say we’ve been hearing this for 15 years. Once we got moving towards “no kill,” Joel said, ‘I’m ready to pull the trigger.’ The council was gracious to allocate funding from the millage and here we are,” Robert Benoit, assistant to Mayor Joel Robideaux, said.
Excited is just one of the words that describes how Robert Benoit feels about the new Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center, he said.
“The problem we have is a very limited facility,” explained Benoit. “It was built decades ago and when people want to come see animals, they got to sit in the lobby wait for a caretaker or someone to be able to bring them to the back.”
That’s all about to change with the new facility thanks to the help of Lafayette-based Architects Beazley Moliere.
“At this point, we’re kind of just going through the design development package on the animal shelter and we’ve chosen some finishes, not all of them… still kind of in the process, but these are different tiles and exterior products here,” Adam L. Beazley, AIA, LEED AP, Principal with Architects Beazley Moliere added.
Benoit says the new shelter will be designed so that when people walk through the doors, they are free to go through the facility to see the adoptable animals without waiting for a caretaker for assistance.
“The kennel area has a clear story to get natural light in there for the dogs and each kennel has an indoor and an outdoor run is what they call them and then there is a guillotine door as well as a flapper door on each kennel,” said Moliere.
When you walk inside the lobby, you’ll be greeted by different colors, textures and patterns. A sound proof wall will also be installed in the entryway.
“These are more of the interior finishes. We got tile flooring. We have a special wall at the entry with a concrete texture panel and some wood slats with pictures of dogs and cats cut out of it,” Moliere said.
News 10 asked Benoit what he thought about Lafayette Mayor President-Elect Josh Guillory regarding the new Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center.
He says Guillory is 100 percent in favor of the “no kill” animal shelter.
The construction cost is estimated to be $8.9 million and is fully funded.