By NS SPCA Staff
The first four months of 2009 were very busy for staff and volunteers at the Metro Shelter, located in Burnside. Since the beginning of January, renovations to most areas of the building have taken place. The changes were necessary, not only to decrease the chance of disease outbreaks, but to also offer staff, volunteers and the public a more user-friendly and inviting environment.
In January, a gentleman by the name of Harold Porteous come into the shelter with his son Chris with an offer we couldn't refuse. He was going to be off for most of the month of January and if the shelter wanted to get some work done to improve the building, he would be willing to come in and donate his time. He had adopted a dog from the shelter two years prior, a black lab named Minnie, and he wanted to give something back.
As many people know, the Metro Shelter was long overdue for some much-needed improvements, but it simply didn't have the financial means to do it. Management at the shelter worked with their vet, Dr. Leslie Steele from Eastern Passage Village Vet, who recommended a plan to improve disease control throughout the building. Once the needs were prioritized, work began immediately.
Harold and Chris came to the shelter every week for a solid month and a half. They built a new cat isolation room to aid in disease control, took a cat room and built a wall in the middle to make a second much needed cat "transition" room, leaving the remainder of the room as a big new cat adoption room. They tore out a wall in the entryway to enable the shelter to better utilize the waiting area and make it much more client-friendly. They tore apart and redesigned the metal cat kennels to better fit in each of the new rooms, and even installed a hallway and new door from the dog isolation room out to the front of the building so that dogs no longer had to go through the kitchen to get outside.
Harold even tore out old dilapidated cabinets and disposed of them, installed new cabinets, whiteboards, corkboards, etc. in the kitchen to enable better organization of the daily schedules, and tore up the floors in much of the building and replaced them with new tile and special grout for disease control. He even obtained donated paint and painted several areas of the building.
As a result of the new cat rooms he built, the shelter is now able to use the old cat adoption room at the front of the building as a much-needed "Adoption Centre" (which is being designed and furnished by another great donor!), which has helped free up space in the constantly overcrowded reception area.
Not only did Harold and Chris do all this work in a speedy fashion, but they did it with a smile on their face and were always up for whatever new task that was suggested, even when plans were constantly changing. Harold not only provided the labour for free, but also provided some of the supplies from his own inventory.
Harold and Chris had to get back to their own work in March, but since then others have stepped forward and picked up where they left off. Rooms have been painted and furniture and a new flat screen TV were generously donated for our Adoption Centre room by one of the shelter's loyal volunteers, Candice Stringer. She was also able to supply the shelter with another contractor to finish adding big new windows and French doors to further brighten the front area of the building.
Another improvement to the building's infrastructure was made possible by a generous donation from Susan Kerslake. The Shelter was able to repair and replace different components to the buildings ventilation system, allowing the rooms to be better regulated for both temperature and air quality.
All of these changes have made a dramatic improvement to the look, feel and functionality of the building. Everyone who walks through the front doors who remembers how cramped and uninviting it used to feel, have commented on how much they enjoy the improvements.
Although the majority of the renovations and painting have been completed, there are still a number of odds and ends to finish off, which the shelter hopes to have completed in the coming weeks.
Both the management and staff can't express how much they appreciate all that Harold and Chris have done because if they hadn't walked through the door that cold January morning with an offer to help, everything that has happened since probably would have never come to pass.
What they've done will not only make the jobs of Shelter staff easier and make their dealings with the public much more workable in the new space, but most importantly he was able to help the Shelter adopt most of the recommendations made by Dr. Steele.
This has undoubtedly saved many animals' lives because disease control is much more effective now that they have self-contained isolation rooms that simply weren't possible under the old layout.
With a new Shelter management team put in place late last fall and now with the renovations nearly complete, it really has been a period of renewal at the Metro Shelter SPCA in 2009. It's hoped all of these improvements will also help with customer service, providing for a better adoption experience for members of the public, whom the shelter relies on to find loving homes.
The shelter would like to acknowledge the following people, who without their generosity these changes would have never been possible:
• Harold and Chris Porteous
• Susan Kerslake
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