WESTERLY – In return for use of its new kennel, the Town of Westerly gave Stand Up for Animals a deal it couldn’t refuse.
The town has provided the nonprofit with a parcel of public land with a 99-year lease for just $1 per year, according to Stand Up for Animals. In return, the town will be able to use some of the kennel space. It has also agreed to pay utilities and maintain the property.
Construction began in July on the new building, which won’t have any “crisp right angles” on the interior corners and where floors meet walls, said Project Manager John Lewis, with construction manager Parker Thompson.
“We had to create a floor that could be cleaned, without any right angles where germs and diseases from animals could stay,” said Lewis. “That’s the main goal – trying to create a product that can really be maintained and cleaned, washed down with 140-degree water.”
Originally, the site chosen had been on the eastern side of the Larry Hirsch Way, off Route 91, on the shore of Chapman Pond – but because the nonprofit has budget restrictions, building on that property would have been too costly, Lewis said. The problem wasn’t the location, however, it was the quality of the soil. The parcel formerly had been the town’s landfill, so the project would have called for Parker Thompson to use “geopiers,” which are a series of coordinated stone piles that are designed to create a firm piece of land after a parcel has been through a remediation.
The building is now planned to be located at 33 Larry Hirsch Way.
The estimated $2 million project is expected to be finished next May.
Parker Thompson, a seven-year-old East Providence design-build firm, signed on to the project in 2005. Providence’s William Kite Architects Inc. designed the building and has been working with Parker Thompson on redesigns.
Stand Up for Animals, a nonprofit organization based in Westerly, was formed to “never turn a lost, abandoned or unwanted pet away.” For additional information, visit www.standupforanimals.org.
