Building improvements likely at DuPage animal shelter
DuPage County is considering a series of improvements to its Animal Care and Control facility, including a potential expansion of the building in Wheaton.
Two county board committees on Tuesday are scheduled to review the proposed project, which is being recommended after officials did a comprehensive review of the shelter and its long-term needs.
The shelter is a self-supported facility that's not funded with taxpayer money. Its operation is overseen by DuPage's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
County board member Grant Eckhoff said the review determined the building at 120 N. County Farm Road needs repairs and upgrades.
"The HVAC was supposed to last 18 years, and it's already been 20," said Eckhoff, who is chairman of the judicial and public safety committee. "And soundproofing was never in place when it should have been."
The judicial and public safety and the public works committees have been asked to sign off on a plan to hire an architectural firm to design the first phase of the project.
William Babyar, director of the county's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and Nicholas Kottmeyer, director of public works and operations, wrote in a May 27 memorandum that the project's first phase would focus on the existing facility and include "environmental improvements and effective usage of the existing square footage."
The work would cost an estimated $750,000 to $850,000 and include noise abatement improvements, electrical and lighting improvements, fire protection improvements, HVAC replacement, and installation of a dog kennel roof and construction of a lower ceiling for noise abatement.
If approved, construction could begin early next year. It would be paid for entirely through a combination of available money provided by the Foundation for DuPage County Animal Care and Control and a special fund within the animal control department.
As for the second phase of improvements to the facility, it would include a potential building expansion.
"The purpose of this phase would be to increase the overall square footage of the facility to allow for additional or expanded functions of the animal control facility," Kottmeyer and Babyar said in their memorandum.
According to the memo, the total cost of the second phase of building improvements is estimated at $3.75 million.
James Healy, chairman of the county board's public works committee, said the expansion would happen if the foundation is able to raise most of money to pay for it.
"While the county will probably kick in some (money), it's not going to contribute very much for the expansion," Healy said.
Meanwhile, the shelter is getting a new administrator.
The DuPage County Board last week hired Dr. Mary K. Carr, a licensed veterinarian, to replace the facility's former administrator, Dr. Todd Faraone.
After Faraone's departure in late January, a Lombard veterinarian was retained by the county on a temporary basis to care for the shelter's animals.
Carr, who has been a practicing veterinarian for 24 years and currently works for DeVries Animal Hospital in Elmhurst, is scheduled to start her new job on June 29. Her starting salary with the county is $113,000 a year.