‘Shelter, enrichment, opportunity’: New McLean County Animal Control building breaks ground

Posted on July 23, 2024

*The new expansion will provide more space and give more opportunities to the animals that come through the shelter. (Photo courtesy WMBD-TV)*

SHIRLEY – A familiar place for animal control will now have a new place of operation.

McLean County Animal Control broke ground Tuesday morning on a new building just east of Shirley.

Animal control currently has 23 dog kennels, 16 cat kennels and eight kennels in their isolation room.

The new expansion will provide more space and give more opportunities to the animals that come through the shelter.

Those within the organization say that this upgrade will substantially help them and the animals.

“We like to put a lot of emphasis on shelter, enrichment and give the animals an opportunity to find a new second forever home,” Marshell Thomson, director of the animal control, said. “Our current facility has got a lot of wear and tear. We needed an upgrade so that the animals could get the best opportunity to find a new home.”

Anthony Grant with administration for McLean County says this building has been a timely process.

“This is being funded through a bond issuance that the county issued several years ago,” he said. “We’ve been working on this for about a year, going through different iterations of design, and we finally landed on a building that’s approximately 11,000-square-foot, which is about twice the size of our current animal control building. We’re so excited to be breaking ground and we can’t wait to get in here and settle into our brand-new property.”

Officials anticipate the new facility will be completed and ready by July of next year.

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