MARSHFIELD, WI (WSAU) — After eight years of planning, fundraising, and hard-work, the Marshfield Area Pet Shelter finally broke ground for a new state-of-the-art facility on Thursday.
On-hand for the ceremonial broundbreaking were many of the volunteers who started the shelter project back in 2011 when they took stray cats and dogs into their own homes because the city didn’t have a place to house strays animals.
Mayor Bob McManus said, it shows what a community working together can do. “What’s so incredible is you see here the group of volunteers who really have been passionate for the last eight years, and they took that little vision and that little thought and they created this. So we’re very excited for them, and we’re very proud of them. We’re looking forward to when they open up.”
McManus said that while volunteers and private donor drove the project, he’s proud of the city’s role in helping secure the land and fund the project. “I know they raised a lot of money, and we as a city we chipped in as well because the city has to take care of everyone and stray animals are an issue for many different reasons.”
The groundbreaking included an unmanned shovel and hard-hat which were set-aside in honor of the late Dan Helwig, a local architect who designed the project but passed away unexpectedly last year due to an accident.
The new shelter will be located on Downwind Drive in the city’s ‘Air Business Park’ on the city’s south side. When completed, it will be the first-ever permanent pet shelter for the city of Marshfield.
