After 56 years in the Town of Tonawanda, the SPCA of Erie County celebrated their 150th anniversary as the second oldest humane society in the country, by relocating to a new state-of-the-art facility centrally located in West Seneca.
Kideney Architects teamed with Animal Arts to design a new complex to replace the SPCA’s outdated and undersized facility. The design of the 52000-sf structure is in response to the specific design request by the owner’s building committee and includes a stand-alone barn for farm animals along with wildlife enclosures on conserved natural lands for rehabilitation. The Stanford Lipsey Veterinary Clinic will be adjoining the new shelter as well.
The SPCA began the project in 2010 when it raised $14.7 million. The privately funded organization received no taxpayer or government money for the new animal shelter and veterinary clinic. “The face of animal welfare has changed so much in recent decades,” says SPCA Communications Officer, Gina Browning. “Now, the focus isn’t only animal admissions and adoptions. It is rescue, cruelty investigations, behavior modification, animal treatments and so much more. We will be able to offer all of this in a state-of-the-art facility that leads the nation when it comes to independent, privately funded humane societies.”
Tredo Engineers provided structural and civil engineering services for the 10.2 acre facility which included the administration building, a 2,400 square foot pole barn, a maintenance garage, and a culvert over a jurisdictional waterway to access the conservation area which is home to outdoor wildlife enclosures. The stormwater management systems included conservation areas, soil restoration, vegetated swales, bioretention basins, stormwater pond and wetlands.
