The new shelter will be built in the 3300 block of West Division Street, moving the facility from its current location north of town. It will serve the city and Greene County.
The current shelter was built in the 1930s, with additions completed in the ‘40s, ‘70s and early 2000s. It sits on a floodplain and routinely floods when the site gets heavy rainfall. Its current maximum capacity is just 60 dogs and 18 cats — for a county that has more than 303,000 human residents.
Greene County is contributing $1.5 million toward the cost of the new animal shelter. According to the ordinance passed Monday night, the city of Springfield will pay for staffing, ordinance and maintenance of the facility.
