WOODBRIDGE — Prince William County’s new animal shelter is designed and ready for construction.
The building is expected to cost $15.1 million, and its sit next to the building it will replace — an aging animal shelter built in 1975, located on Bristow Road next to the county landfill.
The price tag is about $1 million more than what the Board of Supervisors agreed to pay when it approved a new shelter in 2017.
At 27,200 square feet, the building is slightly smaller than the original conceptual estimate of 28,100 square feet.
“We realized some efficiencies in the building during the design process,” said Prince William County Director of Public Works Thomas Bruun.
The new shelter will be able to hold 54 stray dogs, and 104 stray cats for adoption, and a new area for visitors to sit and bond with animals before they are adopted.
County officials will now solicit bids from construction firms that want to build the new shelter. A list of the bids should be ready to present to the Board of Supervisors for approval in July.
The construction project should get underway in August and wrap up by February 2021. Once the shelter’s staff and animals are moved into the new facility, the old shelter will be demolished.
“This is something that is going to last, and will be in our community for a long time,” said Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart.
Last year, neighboring Stafford County opened a smaller-by-comparison, replacement, 17,000 square-foot animal shelter with 38 dog kennels, and 44 stray cat cages at the cost of $5 million.
