After a decade of begging for a new shelter, animal advocates in Orange County have reason to wag their tails.
Orange County commissioners last week awarded a nearly $50 million construction contract to a Lake Mary firm to build what is expected to be the state’s largest animal shelter, a 123,000-square-foot facility with creature comforts absent from the existing shelter, built in 1987.
The new complex, designed by a firm with a dog-friendly name, the Bacon Group, will expand kenneling space to hold 265 dogs, more than double current capacity for canines at Animal Services on county-owned property on Conroy Road near The Mall of Millenia.
It will feature air-conditioning not only in administrative offices but in kennel areas, a missing amenity in the existing shelter.
“The new facility will provide more space and comfort, less stress and a healthier environment for our shelter pets,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said Tuesday after commissioners approved the construction contract. “It will enable shelter staff to focus on life saving programs unlimited by an inadequate building. We’re investing in a future where animals, staff and residents will thrive.”
The future shelter, triple the size of the current shelter, is scheduled to open in the summer of 2027.
The project’s total pricetag of $95 million gave commissioners sticker shock when it was first revealed 18 months ago. Some balked and doubted they could support the project for which $41 million had been set aside amid chronic complaints of shelter conditions.
But no one objected or questioned the project’s full cost Tuesday when the construction contract with The Collage Companies was unanimously approved.
The Lake Mary firm’s bid of $49.2 million was the lowest of five responsive bids and $9 million lower than the highest.
The existing shelter, taking up about 40,000 square feet, has been a magnet for complaints for years. Critics have decried the lack of space which has forced Animal Services sometimes to “co-kennel” or house more than one dog in a cage, a practice that can lead to territorial aggression.
Others have complained about “inhumane” summer temperatures in the open-air kennel space.
Portable air-conditioning units have been used to blow cooler air in the building during summer months since 2022.
Eight years ago, the original cost to build a new shelter near the existing footprint was estimated at about $34 million, but sharp increases for building materials, design and labor ballooned costs to nearly $100 million with $22 million of that budgeted as “project contingency.”
The new price also includes about $15 million for furniture, equipment and technology and $9 million for design and engineering.
County officials are hopeful the final bill will be lower.
Kurt Petersen, Orange County budget director, said costs will likely be spread out over 10, 20 or perhaps 30 years. In an email, he said the county would at first “cash fund” the project with property tax revenues set aside for capital projects but finance the balance with commissioner approval.
Orange County Animal Services operates what is considered an open-admission shelter, which means that it does not turn away animals that are brought in, director Diane Summers said. As a result, the shelter is often over capacity. It has taken in over 68,000 dogs in the past 10 years.
It boasts a “live release” rate of about 91% for dogs, including adoptions. A small percentage are euthanized.
A digital image of the proposed Orange County Animal Services, designed by the Bacon Group, an architectural firm, depicts an aerial view of the new Orange County Animal Services shelter complex, which will cover 123,000 square feet making it the state’s largest animal shelter. The dog kennels are visible behind the main building. Estimated at a total cost of $95 million, the new shelter will sit on the same county-owned property as the existing shelter on Conroy Road across from the Mall of Millenia. The Board of Orange County Commissioners unanimously approved a construction contract of $49.2 million during its public meeting Sept. 30, 2025. (Courtesy of the Bacon Group, Inc., and Orange County government)
The shelter has arranged more than 6,400 adoptions of dogs and cats this year.
The shelter was holding about 242 dogs and 115 cats this week.
“Anything beyond 180 (dogs) is stretching our resources extremely thin,” Summers said in a phone interview. “Unfortunately what we’re seeing lately is our average length of stay for pets is about 24 days. A year ago, it was 16 days. Adoptions, rescues and reclaims are all down.”
The shelter staff and the project earned endorsements at Tuesday’s meeting from Steven Montiero, better known as “Trooper Steve,” a Florida Highway Patrol officer and TV personality for WKMG, who features a shelter pet of the week he urges viewers to adopt.
“State-of-the-art is a building they need. It’s a reflection of the value this county places on both the voiceless animals who depend on us and the employees who fight for them daily,” Montiero said. “Modernizing the facility means safer spaces, healthier environments and more opportunities for successful adoptions…It means showing the community that Orange County leads with compassion and not compromise.”
shudak@orlandosentinel.com
