Quorum court votes to renovate Faulkner County Animal Shelter, opening date scheduled for end of year
FAULKNER COUNTY, Ark. – The Faulkner County Quorum Court has voted to help fund the renovation of the county’s first animal shelter, marking the end of a decades-long fight.
Tuesday night, the court voted to use $1.2 million from the American Rescue Plan Fund to fix up the existing building on Highway 65.
Push to open Faulkner County Animal Shelter moving to quorum court
Vickie Crutchfield with Friends of Faulkner County Animal Shelter said this is an important turning point.
“[I feel like] I’ve reached a milestone,” Crutchfield said.
Crutchfield said she joined the non-profit in 2012. At the time, she thought a county shelter was right around the corner. She said she never could have expected the ups and downs that would happen in the next 12 years.
“Getting that building, we thought we were on the way,” she said. “When it didn’t happen, it was very frustrating.”
In 2021, the county approved funding for a building that would house the animal shelter. At the time, leaders expected doors to be open by August of 2022, but that didn’t happen.
Faulkner County Animal Shelter site sits empty, residents express frustration
The Friends of the Faulkner County Animal Shelter only raised enough money to run the shelter, not fix it up. This forced them to head back to the drawing board.
“Keeping the shelter in front of everyone was a very difficult situation,” Crutchfield said.
Crutchfield said her team has been struggling for donations because of the lack of progress on the building.
She said if it wasn’t for the quorum court, it could be years before they could get doors open.
“It’s huge, it’s absolutely huge,” Crutchfield said. “This is the ending to a very long project, but the beginning to a very good project.”
Quorum Court to Decide on Plans for New Faulkner Co. Animal Shelter
Crutchfield said renovations should begin in the next couple of months with the hope to open at the end of the year.
Money from the county’s volunteer tax will help pay to run the shelter after doors are open.
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