10 years after fire, Jacksonville Humane Society has grand opening for new building

On Friday, there were more people than animals at the Jacksonville Humane Society's grand opening of their new 44,000-square-foot building.

The new building was a long time coming.

Ten years ago, a fire ripped through the old facility and the organization has been raising money to build a new one ever since.

“We were working out of trailers and out of existing dog kennels that survived the fire,” said senior manager of education research Lindsey Layendecker.

This new building is a major upgrade and people looking for animals to adopt could tell.

“It was gorgeous to me. I hadn’t seen any Humane Society this nice,” said Christina Stewart, who adopted a 2-year-old cat..

The building features a “Catio,” basically a patio for cats to come in and out of.

“They can go outside get some sunshine and it keeps them happy and healthy until they find  homes,” Layendecker said.

They also have dog suites that could help a dog get adopted.

“It’s a great place for us to feature dogs maybe if someone’s getting passed over in the kennel, not a lot of families are asking to meet them, we put them out here and everyone gets to see them,” Layendecker said.

The new building was part of a $15 million project. Layendecker said an additional $4 million needs to be raised.

Cox Media Group