Massive Expansion of Animal Shelter Begins

Work began last week on a $1.6 million expansion of La Grange’s Gardenia E. Janssen Animal Shelter.

“It’s the end of an era, but the start of a new building,” said Teresa Stanley-Brown, Executive Director of the shelter. “This is 2.5 years of planning.”

The work, which is being paid for mostly from private donations, will expand the shelter by 3,000 square feet.

The first step was tearing off the board room and dirt work on the south side of the building, where a trio of new cat rooms are going to be added.

“When you take in 900 cats a year, you need all the help you can get,” Stanley-Brown said Other new features will be separate intake and treatment rooms, updates to the dog kennels and lots more. Stanley-Brown said 85-90-percent of the new space will go directly to animal care areas. The facility will not close during the work, but rather after the expanded areas are complete, all operation will be moved there and the older areas that remain will be renovated.

“We’re going to have to get creative,” Stanley-Brown said. She added that the shelter is still trying to raise funds for the project. Part of that fundraising is a name recognition program, some spots of which are still available, for lifetime naming rights to parts of the expansion.

“This is all overdue,” Stanley-Brown said. “It’s a labor of love.”

The Gardenia E Janssen Animal Shelter is located at 240 Svoboda Lane in La Grange. Phone number is 979-966-0021.

– Jeff Wick