The new Guilford County Animal Shelter has been desired by many animal lovers across the county for nearly two decades.

So there’s a lot of anticipation as to when the facility at 926 Guilford College Road in Greensboro will open.  Now there’s a tentative answer. In September, Guilford County Animal Services will begin transitioning to the new facility, and, in October, the new shelter is expected to officially open to the public.

The timeline is still a little fuzzy. However, that hasn’t dampened the joy of those who want to see the animals in the county’s care moved out of the existing dilapidated animal shelter on West Wendover Avenue just south of I-40.

Guilford County Commissioner Justin Conrad, who’s been very active in the animal shelter project as well as in regard to animal welfare issues in the county, recently got a private tour of the facility, and, when Conrad spoke about what he’d seen, he said he was thrilled at the way the shelter had come out. 

The commissioner said it was very well designed, very attractive and was created to be efficient for the care and adoption of animals.   

Conrad said publicly at a Guilford County Board of Commissioners meeting that he wished to offer a great deal of thanks to those who had designed and constructed the structure and he added that he believes the citizens are going to be extremely pleased when the finished product is unveiled to the public. 

Conrad also shared some thoughts on social media.

“This morning I had the pleasure of taking a sneak peek at our soon to be open Guilford County animal resource center,” Conrad wrote in a Facebook post. “This facility is going to be such a great benefit for our citizens and the animals in our care. Thank you to Director Jorge Ortega for the tour, and a big thank you to all of those who served on the Board of Commissioners to make this a priority several years ago.”

About three years ago, the Republican-led Guilford County Board of Commissioners approved just over $15 million for the project after years of complaints from animal lovers that the old shelter faced numerous problems due to its age.

The photo above is of Conrad (left) and Ortega during the tour. 

Conrad said Ortega has provided a lot of hands-on input for the project.

 

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