PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Port Arthur city leaders are spending more than $7 million to build a new modern animal control facility.
Port Arthur Animal Services Center is a highly anticipated project and city leaders say the new building will be a major upgrade compared to the current shelter.
"The former shelter, or the present shelter, it's inadequate as far as size and the functional aspect for the size of the city now," said Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bartie.
The new animal shelter is going to be on the former site of St. Mary Hospital. The 16,000 square foot building will replace the one currently located on 4th Street. which was first built in 1978.
"I remember when they built that. I was a very young guy," Mayor Bartie said.
In the new building, animals without a home will enjoy the luxury of 38 air conditioned kennels, a cat room, a cleaning facility to help with sanitation and more.
"We will have dog runs, we will have adoption rooms. We've never had that space before, we will have a cat room, we will have expanded storage and a meeting room for educational talks for citizens," said Port Arthur Compliance Manager Darlene Pierre.
Staff will also be reaping the benefits.
"There wasn't enough space for our employees so we needed more space for them. And we needed to expand so we'll have enough room for the animals we take in," Pierre said.
Pierre tells 12News that there's a lot of land to work with and because the shelter will only occupy a portion of the property they're making plans to build other structures as well.
"This site is, I think it's eight acres. We're only gonna be on a small percentage of it. We have a master plan that the city is working on to expand the entire site to build off the entire site," Pierre told 12News.
This is an upgrade citizens believe has been a long time coming.
"I wouldn't categorize it as a problem it's just an assessment of a need," Mayor Bartie said.
The Port Arthur Animal Services Center is expected to be ready, by spring 2025.