The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly is fully funding construction of a new animal shelter that’s been entangled in years of planning and public scrutiny.
The estimated cost to build the new shelter skyrocketed about two years ago, doubling the original estimates from 2017. The $16 million appropriated Thursday will add to what previous assemblies had already set aside, totaling the $33 million the borough says is needed for the project.
The appropriation ordinance last week comes after public pushback led the assembly to hold the additional funds in 2024 while the borough collected more feedback and awaited a finished design. According to a presentation at Thursday’s meeting, the new animal shelter’s design was completed in December.
Assemblymember David Guttenberg cosponsored the measure to free up the money, which will enable the project to go out to bid. He said the 50-year-old shelter is nearing catastrophic failure and that he doesn’t want to pass off the responsibility to future assemblies.
“It’s not like we’re building a second home at the lake. We’re building something that’s past needing to be replaced,” he said. “And I am not, for one, in favor of putting it off for another assembly years down the road.”
The animal shelter replacement project first claimed a spot on the borough’s capital improvement program in 2019. Borough administration, staff and elected officials have repeatedly said the old building is nearly kaput and that it doesn’t have enough space to properly handle and care for animals. A photo in Thursday’s presentation showed a veterinarian performing dog surgery on the floor.
The design for the new facility looks to fix those issues. But the replacement project is among the most expensive items in the borough’s capital improvement program, and some of its biggest critics have coined the new shelter the “Puppy Palace.”
Still, many of the project’s opponents do agree a new shelter is needed, but object to either the price tag or perceived design flaws in the current project plans – or both.
“I want to vote to have a better facility than what we have,” Assemblymember Tammie Wilson said Thursday. “But, you know, with the needs in the town, I just can’t vote for something like this when we have other needs that are just as high.”
Paying $33 million for an animal shelter clashes too much with other priorities, like capital improvements to borough schools, she said.
The measure appropriating the additional $16 million ultimately passed on a 7-2 vote after about three hours of public testimony and assembly debate. Wilson and Assemblymember Brett Rotermund were the two no votes.
The new animal shelter will be located close to the intersection of South Cushman Street and the Old Richardson Highway, replacing the old facility on Davis Road. The borough currently expects construction to start this year and finish in the summer of 2028.