AURORA, Colo. — The Aurora Animal Shelter is nearly full year-round — something the shelter says limits their flexibility and space for animals in need. That could soon be changing.
Aurora city officials and Aurora Animal Shelter staff broke ground on the site of a long-awaited new animal shelter on Tuesday.
The 42,000 square foot, two-story facility will more than triple the size of the current one, built in the 1980s, and will nearly double the number of pets the shelter can house. It's the only shelter in Aurora and serves much of Arapahoe County.
Denver7 has covered the growing pains at the current shelter over the years, as the city's population and the number of animals taken to the shelter have increased.
Last summer, Denver 7's Danielle Kreutter sat down with the shelter's supervisor.
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"How long do you think this shelter has been operating in a way where they've completely outgrown the space?" Kreutter asked at the time.
"Probably about 20 years realistically, yeah, it's been a really long time," Dorothy Berry, the shelter's supervisor said.
Aurora's manager of animal services, Anthony Youngblood, spoke on Tuesday about how the shelter will expand services, enhance animal housing and medical care.
"A larger, more modern space will benefit everyone from the animals we care for to Aurora residents who come to the facility to adopt the next new member of their families to our volunteers,” he said in a release.
Dr. Sharyn Esposito, the shelter's veterinarian, described the current medical space for the shelter as very small. The new shelter will have more surgery space, a dental suite and radiology for the first time.
"For me it's a dream," she said.
Construction will begin soon, with a public opening tentatively scheduled for 2028.
The estimated cost of the project is $51.3 million funded by the city, Federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars and $460,000 of community donations.
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