North Little Rock Animal Shelter receiving renovations, expansions following city funding
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark.- Funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and the city of North Little Rock are helping to upgrade the North Little Rock Animal Shelter.
“Well, this is something we’ve looked at for a long time,” North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick said.
Hartwick said he has personal experience with animal shelters and is passionate about it.
“I have adopted every animal (of mine) from here,” Harwick said. “Animals are a savior to me.”
Funding from the American Rescue Plan Act provides the means necessary for upgrades and renovations.
“It’s going to be approximately half a million dollars that we’re going to upgrade, so a very substantial amount of money coming into our animal shelter,” Hartwick said.
This planning took months as they tried to determine what was best for the current and future animals entering the shelter daily, according to the shelter.
“It has to be a quick turn because there’s no time to lay down and shut the doors down until we get it built, so this thing is going on while we’re still working,” Hartwick said.
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The shelter is working to make a better environment for not just the animals but also those who come into the shelter to adopt or for the services offered.
“It’s going to be a drastic change. New paint, new flooring,” shelter director Adam Tindall said. “They’re going to be connecting these buildings together as they build them with the whole front changed. It’s going to be a 900-sq-foot addition.”
This change will also help speed up the process of cleaning and the overall maintenance of the shelter.
“We clean every day, every single day, 365 days a year,” Tindall said. “A lot of times it slows us down when we have to try to get some of these water puddles that stay on the asphalt and not saying that this wasn’t a workable situation, it’s just we’re going to make it better.”
According to Tindall, this is a step in the right direction to help improve the lives of the animals while they are awaiting adoption.
“Honestly, the impact it’s going to have on the animals that come into our facility and the impact that it’s going to have on the citizens in North Little Rock have something they can be proud of,” Tindall said.
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