New animal shelter now projected to cost $95M

Orange officials unsure how to pay for facility; original estimate was $34 million

A new animal shelter in Orange County is now projected to cost close to $100 million – nearly triple a previous estimate – and county officials don’t know how to pay for it.

The dilemma came to the fore as Orange County Animal Services presented an update on the planning of the new shelter at a board of county commissioners meeting this week.

The shelter has been a topic of discussion since 2017, but the original cost estimate was $34 million. OCAS has $41 million on hand for the project, leaving a shortfall of $54 million.

In the commission meeting workshop, some commissioners expressed concerns about the increase in the cost and whether the county would be able to afford it.

OCAS is currently considering options for financing the project, which may include postponing other projects that are on the county’s 5-year Capital Improvement Plan.

The CIP outlines a number of projects that the county hopes to implement and how to budget for them. Some of these include transportation, wastewater and parks and recreation projects.

OCAS officials said that they have also considered looking into grant funding, but have not identified a specific opportunity yet.

Planning for the new shelter is currently in the design phase and the current cost estimate is based on rendered images made by Bacon Group Architecture,of the potential building. Because the updated design is only an estimated 30% developed, there is a possibility that costs could increase further in the future.

“You’re asking me to make up my mind with a project that’s not escalated to 100% and I don’t know what the other needs are.

How am I supposed to do that?” Commissioner Christine Moore said.

“What worries me is we haven’t gotten to construction costs yet. When we’re in design and you’re going to have to bid out for construction, it’s going to go up again,” Commissioner Mayra Uribe said. “I think we’re just kind of being imprudent for the residents of Orange County.”

The primary concern about the current shelter, addressed in a 2017 board of county commissioners meeting that kicked off the planned rebuild, is the lack of air conditioning and space in its dog facilities. In the current dog building, the animals are at high risk of spreading disease, heat exhaustion and elevated stress and anxiety.

Orange County Animal Services has the highest number of dog intakes of any shelter in Florida, data shows. In 2023, Orange County had over 6500 dog intakes, according to Shelter Animal Counts.

The new shelter would be the biggest animal shelter in Florida at 122,000 sq. ft with the capacity to house 265 dogs and 194 cats. The current building, which was built in 1987, is about 31,000 sq. ft.

The location of the new shelter will be the same as the current shelter, which is at 2769 Conroy Rd. adjacent to the Mall at Millenia, and is planned to be built by 2027.

OCAS is considered an open-admission shelter, which means that it does not turn away animals that are brought in. As a result, the shelter is often over capacity.

One element that will be implemented into the dog housing of the new shelter is a pod-style design. The pods are designed for single housing so dogs will no longer have to share kennels.

Many changes have already been made to the current shelter. Since 2017, OCAS has increased the size of its clinic, lobby space and garage. OCAS has also renovated the cat housing. However, these improvements are still not enough, OCAS officials say.

With the new building, OCAS will have the opportunity to expand on many of the existing programs and services offered by the shelter, including its robust adoption program. Over 70,000 people visit the OCAS shelter every year and in 2023, the shelter saw almost 12,000 total cats and dogs adopted.

Orange County Animal Services manager Diane Summers said there has been a major shift in the program’s goal, from taking animals off the streets to saving as many animals as possible and giving them an improved quality of life.

“Adoption programs require a positive guest experience and require a change in how the animals are housed to ensure a safe and successful interaction between potential adopters and animal,” Summers said. “So we’ve taken all of that into consideration and it has greatly changed the shelter that we think is necessary at this point in time and necessary for the next 50 years.”