Central Missouri Humane Society renovations near completion

COLUMBIA — The Central Missouri Humane Society is putting its winnings from the Zootoo.com contest to use, and renovations are almost complete.

“Essentially other than the main frame of the building itself, we’re going to have a whole new building,” said John Shrum, president of the society's board.

Members of the Humane Society board and staff discussed the status of the Zootoo project during Tuesday night’s monthly board meeting. The Central Missouri Humane Society won Zootoo’s $1 million shelter makeover contest in late April 2009.

According to a previous Missourian article, the $1 million makeover is not a cash prize. Zootoo will contribute up to $1 million in goods and services. Jeffrey Trotter, the Humane Society’s foster and rescue coordinator, said they are budgeting about $800,000 of the $1 million because they expect more costs to arise.

Alan Allert, executive director of the Humane Society, said construction workers were installing stainless steel air ducts. Construction was about a week behind because of rainy weather.

“To me, that’s an amazing thing: to just be a week behind their schedule,” said Shrum, alluding to the fact that the building has been unchanged since it was built in the '70s.

Shelter Relations Coordinator Allison Toth said the Humane Society’s 616 Big Bear Blvd. facility has been completely gutted. The new structure will have more windows along the back to let in natural light. Space for cats will also increase.

Toth said the renovated building would be much more sanitary and “drastically reduce spread of airborne diseases,” such as kennel cough, which almost all animals at the shelter contracted.

The remodeled facility will be more appealing and have a more inviting atmosphere, Toth said. The kennel doors will be glass instead of chain link. Toth said chain kennels often make people think the animals look sad.

Animals are temporarily located at Mid-City Lumber, 2105 Paris Road. Shrum said they aim to move animals back into the original facility the third week of July.

Humane Society staff members said July is their busiest month and hope animals will be adopted before they move from Mid-City to the main facility. The Humane Society will host "Kitten-palooza!" this Saturday to help more cats get adopted.

During much of the board meeting, members talked about a long-range plan. Once the Zootoo renovations are complete, the capital campaign will begin. This 10-year campaign will probably cost a few million dollars and add on to the remodeled building.

“There is no inherent difficulty on the site that keeps us from doing what we want to do,” board member James Loveless said.