Grand Strand Humane Society takes step toward new facility
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — The Grand Strand Humane Society is taking their next steps toward a forever home, after being out of their main facility for three years now.
Grand Strand Humane Society received approval from the State Joint Bond Review Committee to use the 10 acres of land given to them by Santee Cooper, which first granted the land in December, next to its gas turbine site in Myrtle Beach.
The facility will be located on Piedmont Avenue, off Waterside Drive near the Intracoastal Waterway.
Executive director at GSHS, Jessica Wnuk, said “Earthworks,” a locally-based company will be their civil engineers for the estimated $7-7.5 million project.
“We’ve been fundraising for several years for this and trying to set money aside as we’re able to. We are fortunate to have several generous private donors that have helped with this funding process,” Wnuk said. “City of Myrtle Beach — we’re so grateful for their $500,000 contribution towards this and we’re continuing to fundraiser at this time. We’re about halfway to our goal.”
Wnuk said their ideas so far have been great and that they’re now working on the internal, intricate features. She said they were excited when the land was approved at the state level, but added they ran into a problem two months ago.
At the Infrastructure and Regulatory committee meeting in April, there was discussion about potential rezoning. This would’ve prevented animal services from being put in that specific area, but it’s since been settled.
Wnuk said her vision for this new facility is to be one story because it’s safer for the animals to be on the ground level and is more cost effective.
“We just want something that’s welcoming, not only for the animals, but for the community. We want people to want to come to the shelter. There’s a common misconception still that animal shelters are sad and depressing places and what we’re looking to do is change that,” she said. “We want people to want to come out and see our animals even if they’re not looking to adopt, just bring the kids, come meet the animals and see what the face of animal welfare is and teach their kids to be compassionate pet owners.”
Wnuk said right now, they’re working on getting their county permits which could take anywhere from five to eight months. She said once that’s finished, they’ll break ground.
Wnuk said between their facilities and foster homes, they have more than 125 dogs in their care — almost double what they would like to.
She said they’re having a fee-waived adoption event in two weeks. You can find more information about it here.
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Jackie LiBrizzi is a multimedia journalist at News13. Jackie is originally from Hamilton, New Jersey, and was raised in Piedmont, South Carolina. Jackie joined the News13 team in June 2023 after she graduated as a student-athlete from the University of South Carolina in May 2023. Follow Jackie on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here.
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