The city animal shelter is returning to its location and normal operations after several months of renovations.

The shelter will be closed April 19 for the transition, and reopen with normal operations at 1010 25th Ave. N.E. on April 21.

During the renovation, shelter staff operated out of a temporary office nearby and reduced operations.

“The return to the upgraded facility marks a significant milestone in the shelter’s ongoing commitment to providing high-quality care for animals in our community,” according to the shelter.

The contract to A&R Construction, with a change order, totaled $152,808.

All animals surrendered in cruelty investigation, no charges filed

Commissioners approved the initial contract in December, with a change order in February.

The animal shelter project is comprised of three smaller projects and is part of a larger package of projects the city is funding through the State-Local Infrastructure Partnership Act that the Montana Legislature approved in 2023.

The bill allocated about $20 million from the state general fund to the Montana Department of Commerce to be distributed to cities and towns to help them fund the maintenance or repair of local government facilities on a partnership basis, with local governments supplying a cash match.

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SLIPA is covering $85,987.50 and the Help Us Grow, or HUG, fundraising campaign funds covered the remainder.

Construction began at the animal shelter on Feb. 3 and while cutting concrete to locate the plumbing that needed to be replaced, the construction crew cut through electrical conduit within the concrete, according to city staff.

The cut affected some lighting in the office area and the shelter required the temporary office move.

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Crews also discovered additional conduits in the surrounding concrete and the public can’t continue without relocating those conduits, which can’t be patched and reused since they’re disintegrating and “running conduit through the concrete slab is asking for trouble down the road,” according to staff. “Therefore, the only recommended course of action is to re-route the electrical conduits along the walls to keep them out of the way of any future repairs.”

A&R hired an electrician to fix the damaged line.

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Sylvia Tarman, city ARPA project manager, told The Electric earlier this year that existing plans for the animal shelter building that could be located from 1970, 2014 and 2019 were examined and given to the architect, but were for different projects over the years, weren’t comprehensive of the entire building and didn’t show existing conditions across the building.

Tarman said original construction documents for the building couldn’t be located.

City staff said they didn’t know when the current city shelter building was constructed, if it was constructed as a city project, or built by the Humane Society and acquired by the city when it took over animal shelter operations in 2007. Staff said they were looking for that information.

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Laramie Smovir, shelter operations manager, said that during the renovations, the shelter was continuing daily operations with limited holding capacity.

The shelter didn’t take strays from the public, but supported city animal control officers with their animal intakes.

Smovir said they continued cat adoptions at their temporary location.

Dogs were held through their stray hold period, she said, and shelter staff worked with partner organizations stateside to transfer them for adoptions.

In March, city animal control officers seized 20 cats from a downtown apartment building in an animal abuse case.

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The animals were surrendered, so shelter staff could begin providing care immediately, Smovir told The Electric at the time.

Smovir said that normally, animals in a case like this would be housed at the city shelter and remain there until receiving spay/neuter surgery and be placed up for adoption. Those costs are $115 for spays and $85 for neuters, she said.

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But since the shelter was under renovation at the time with limited space, shelter staff coordinated with their partner animal welfare agencies in the region and once the animals were legally surrendered, they were transferred to those agencies for spay/neuter surgeries and to be placed for adoption.

For shelter questions, call 406-454-2276.