Construction of New Westminster’s new animal shelter and tow yard is expected to get underway in 2017.
A city task force reviewed a number of city-owned sites and determined 435 Wood St. to be the best location for a new animal shelter and tow yard. The plan calls for a building that's about 7,100 square feet and includes space for cats, dogs and other small animals, as well as space for volunteers and administrative staff of the animal services and parking/towing services.
“To date staff have commissioned a preliminary geotechnical investigation under the Queensborough Bridge to get a sense of costing and the feasibility of that site,” said Terry Atherton, the city’s manager of civic buildings and properties. “Also, the architect, staff and members of the task force worked quite hard in coming up with a detailed schematic floor plan, which would incorporate all our program requirements.”
Atherton said the new site is expected to accommodate the city’s needs for about 25 years. It would also provide a space that offers better separation of cats and dogs to prevent any kind of cross contamination.
“We anticipate the detailed design of the facility to begin probably in August and maybe carry on until early 2017,” Atherton said.
Construction of the facility is expected to start in the spring of 2017, he added.
