Humane Society rises from ashes 10 years later

Ground broken on building nearly decade after devastating fire

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Construction began Tuesday for the Jacksonville Humane Society's new adoption and education center.

The building will replace the temporary structures that the shelter has used since a 2007 fire.

Some of the structures have already been demolished at the Beach Boulevard property, where a groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday.

Passing by the Jacksonville Humane Society off Beach Boulevard, you're going to notice it's a little more flat than usual.

"I remember a lot of fear and sorrow watching the buildings come down, animals running around, firefighters doing amazing things,” said Ann Korczyk, associated executive director of JHS.

The fire that destroyed the shelter in 2007 killed 86 animals.

"We didn't have anything,” Korczyk said. “We didn't have paper and pen. We had to run to Wal-Mart to get that. We had nothing, but we got together."

JHS got the shelter up and running in less than a week and worked out of the temporary buildings for nearly 10 years.

"It's horrible. It's really hot, uncomfortable,” Korczyk said.

Now, JHS is rising from the ashes.

"To be in this place in the final steps of recovering after the fire, it's emotional for everyone,” Executive Director Denise Deisler said.

The new 40,000-square-foot facility will provide climate-controlled housing for the animals and will include an adoption and education center. The staff is working hard to keep the doors open through the construction process.

"One day we can go in this door and park here, and the next day we've got to go in a different door, and moving animals from place to place,” Deisler said.

But it will all be worth it to give the four-legged friends a more comfortable transition to their forever homes.

“We intend to dispel every single myth you've every had about what an animal shelter looks like, smells like and feels like,” Deisler said.

The new JHS building is expected to be up and running by the summer of 2017.

JHS still needs some funding to finish the project.

The shelter has about $8.5 million of the $15 million it will take to complete the project.

To make a donation, go to http://www.jaxhumane.org/about-us/building-updates.