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Grand Opening of the Murfin Animal Care Campus – June 22
- Saturday, June 22
- 10 a.m. - Ribbon Cutting
- 11 a.m. - KHS Opens
- Download Our Grand Opening Newsletter
The Kansas Humane Society and the City of Wichita’s Animal Services are pleased to announce the grand opening of the Murfin Animal Care Campus at K-96 and Hillside on Monday, June 22, with a 10 a.m. Ribbon Cutting ceremony. Both facilities will be open to the public from 11 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Monday – Saturday and 1 – 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Each organization functions independently in operations and funding but has collaborative programs designed to serve pets and people in the best possible way. This public/private partnership, the first of its kind in the Midwest, eliminates duplication of services, will reunite more lost pets with their owners, is more convenient for the public and ensures that all animals are spayed or neutered prior to adoption – all of which leads to the Kansas Humane Society’s ultimate goal of ending the unnecessary euthanasia of adoptable animals within 5 years of opening.
The Kansas Humane Society has raised $9.7 million in private donations for their new $10.2 million, 40,000 sq. ft. facility and is currently soliciting the remaining $500,000. The City of Wichita’s $6 million, 26,060 sq. ft. facility is funded by public dollars. The campus was designed by WDM Architects and built by Hutton Construction.
Capital Campaign Fundraising Continues
Speaking of generous contributions, we're pleased to report that we are just $800,000 away from fully funding our new facility. The very end of a capital campaign is always the most difficult and a strained economy certainly increases that challenge.
If you are interested in helping us close this gap by making a gift to the campaign or increasing the gift you’ve already made, please call 316-524-9196 or e-mail kjanzen@kshumane.org. There are still great naming opportunities available, so if you’re looking for the perfect way to honor or memorialize a loved one or pet, let’s visit right away.
Photo of our campus taken in February. The new Kansas Humane Society facility is on the right and the new Wichita Animal Shelter is on the left.
December 20, 2008, marked the one-year milestone on construction of the Kansas Humane Society’s new facility and our partnership with the Wichita Animal Shelter. Now that the steelwork and exterior walls are complete, the modern design of the building is starting to become more prominent. Our community is getting its first real view of what the facility will look like when it’s complete.
Our new facility will feature natural light in all animal areas - a critical component in keeping pets healthy and happy during their stay with us. Skylights are being framed in now and the roof should be finished by the end of January. The first two months of 2009 will see exterior framing completed, windows and doors installed, heating and cooling systems roughed in and sprinkler system installation started.
Once the building is enclosed, work on the interior will begin in earnest. After visiting many other animal shelters and adoption centers around the country, our facility was carefully designed to make every pet’s stay as healthy as possible and as short as possible. Imperative to this goal are:
- Solid, non-porous surfaces that can be easily sanitized
- Epoxy flooring designed to withstand years of hard animal use
- Animal housing designed to reduce stress and ensure behavioral health
- Specialized ventilation systems to eliminate animal odors and reduce airborne infections
- Medical isolation space where pets with illness can be treated while keeping the rest of our temporary residents healthy
- A medical clinic with space for two full-time staff veterinarians and their teams
- Behavior assessment area where our behavior team can evaluate every pet prior to adoption, ensuring they are matched with the best family possible
- Natural settings for adoptable animals – canine adoption apartments, kitty condos and cat community rooms – that help adopters see potential new pets in a relaxed environment
- A retail store closely tied to the adoption process so new pet owners can leave with the supplies and knowledge they need to be successful
- A learning center where we can teach youth about responsible pet ownership, provide pet behavior classes to the public, train staff and volunteers and host community outreach events.
Have questions about the project? Please contact Kim Janzen, President/CEO at kjanzen@kshumane.org or 316.524.1590, ext. 203.
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