SPCA seeks donations for new Willow Run facility
The Aiken SPCA’s new 20,000-square-foot facility on Willow Run Road, which plans to offer a multitude of animal-centric services, will not be possible without the community’s support, directors said Tuesday.
SPCA Board of Directors President Barbara Nelson, Executive Director Gary Willoughby and General Gifts Committee Chair Sharon Brown officially launched the animal welfare organization’s capital campaign to fund the construction of the $4.2 million facility.
They gathered at the dog park, which opened last fall, and pointed to adjacent acres where the adoption and regional spay/neuter clinic will be built.
“This will become a community destination,” Nelson said.
The SPCA has raised $3.2 million so far in donations and pledges, and Nelson hopes to have the remaining balance secured in another year. The capital campaign rests on the sale of memorial bricks and tiles.
The bricks will be placed in public areas around the exterior of the facility, and photo tiles will be mounted on the walls inside the adoption and education center.
SPCA directors anticipate the new facility will increase the capacity to house homeless pets by 50 percent, and the new spay/neuter clinic will perform more than 12,000 sterilizations per year, compared to the current average of 2,500 sterilizations.
Nelson said dogs available for adoption will no longer live behind chain link fencing in kennel runs. They will instead live in “suites” that are a minimum of 8 feet by 8 feet and enclosed with glass.
“The dogs will not be able to look at each other directly, which cuts down on territorial behavior and barking,” she said.
Cats will live in “colonies” complete with benches, climbing trees and access to enclosed, outdoor rooms. The two colonies will house up to 15 cats each.
The new facility will be built with durable materials to ensure it will be “serviceable for a very, very long time. We want to build a shelter that is here 50, 60 years,” Nelson said.
A geothermal loop system will cut down odor, and low E-glass solar panels will cut down on utility costs.
On top of all of that, the new building will also house a humane education center for school-age educational programs and tours, classes for new adopters and training for assistance and therapy pets. The SPCA will also introduce two new programs upon completion of the facility – a pet protective custody program and prison cell dog program.
Brown said the new facility will be “absolutely marvelous.”
“It seemed to me that this is a project we can all share in,” she said.
For more information on the memorial bricks and tiles, call the Aiken SPCA at 648-6863.
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC.
Leave a Reply