STATESVILLE, N.C.,None — After years of discussion and planning, the new Iredell County Animal Shelter is nearly completed.
With the facility on Bristol Drive almost ready to open, Iredell Services Director Chris Royal said the current building on Twin Oaks Drive will close this week to give the staff time to move the animals and records into the new facility.
She said the facility on Twin Oaks will close from Tuesday through Saturday and the animal shelter will reopen on Monday, July 11, at 10:30 a.m. at its new home on Bristol Drive.
Construction on the new $2 million animal shelter began about one year ago.
The old facility was originally a storage building for the solid waste department and was never met to be anything but a temporary solution for the animal control department, retired County Manager Joel Mashburn said late last year.
It has housed animal control since the mid-1990s, and it would have cost more to upgrade it to meet state standards than to build the new facility, Royal said.
Mashburn said the county has been saving money for this project for years.
The new facility will house the administrative offices, a conference room, indoor and outdoor pens, a grooming room and the euthanasia room. There will also be a covered area where the staff can hold its rabies clinics.
The facility on Twin Oaks will be gutted and cleaned up to be used as storage space for records, supplies and equipment.
Royal said a grand opening and dedication at the Bristol Drive location will be held later this month.