The new location is on a 4.5-acre plot of land near Monroe Crossings Park, at the intersection of Ohio 63 and Ohio 4. Construction of a building will be funded through a capital campaign.
The new shelter will be a welcome addition, as the current facility “is held together with zip-ties right now, and that is not a joke,” Teller said. PAWS has been trying to get a new location for several years, with plans falling through in the past. This time, however, the move will happen, Teller said. PAWS has outgrown the Cincinnati-Dayton Road location, which is filled to capacity with 80 animals.
PAWS was going to build its new facility on a plot of land across the street from its current location, but “we ended up selling that property. It was going to cost us a fortune to clear it and get it prepared, so that’s when the board decided the best thing to do was look elsewhere for property,” Teller said. PAWS hopes to break ground on the new shelter within two weeks.
Details of the capital campaign to fund the new shelter will be announced Saturday at a fundraising event called Paws-A-Palooza.
That downtown event will have two phases. The first, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the corner of Manchester Avenue and Verity Parkway, will feature an obstacle course, demonstrations, information on spay and neuter, and animal safety lessons for children. Then, from 6 to 11 p.m. at Governor’s Square will be a concert featuring the bands Stagger Lee, the Swamp Bees and the Exploding Toads, run by the organizers of the Broad Street Bash, Teller said.
Paws-A-Palooza replaces Dogfest, which PAWS had attended in the past, but changes in staff and the board of directors in recent years meant that the event was not held. This new event “will start back out small and rebuild,” Teller said.
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