Buffalo picks a former police precinct in the Old First Ward for its new animal shelter

By Nora Kowalczyk

BUFFALO — The City of Buffalo has picked a home for its long-promised new animal shelter: a shuttered police station in the Old First Ward.

Mayor Sean Ryan announced Thursday that the city will turn its former Buffalo Police precinct at 294 Louisiana St. into a modern shelter. The city put the cost at more than $30 million in proposed capital funding, according to the mayor’s announcement. The building would replace the cramped shelter at 380 Oak St. downtown, which does not meet some of the state’s newer standards.

“Buffalo’s animals, the people who care for them, and the residents who come to adopt them deserve a modern facility built to suit their needs,” Ryan said in the announcement. “This is a job that needs to be done right the first time, and we worked hard to identify the right location before moving forward.”

The Chronicle reported last week on the Oak Street shelter’s space problems as the city searched for a site. Shelter staff told the News the building has been at capacity in recent months. Thursday’s announcement answers the where. The how much and the when still depend on the Common Council.

Five times the space

Ryan said the plan is to save the old station and build around it. The finished shelter would be about five times the size of the current 7,500-square-foot building, The Buffalo News reported.

“It’s a former police precinct. It’s got great bones. It’s a solid building,” Ryan said. “It’s got room for renovation. It’s got room for expansion. It’s got the park right next door, Father Conway Park.”

Early estimates say the new building could hold about 80 to 100 dogs and 90 to 130 cats. The Oak Street shelter is listed for 66 dogs and 59 cats.

Ryan also credited the people now working in the old building. “The staff that has to work there every day, they’re given a challenge that can’t be met because of the structure and how that building is laid out,” he said.

The timeline, and a gap in it

The city’s release lays out planning in 2027, design work in 2027 and 2028, and construction in 2028 and 2029.

Deputy Mayor Benjamin Swanekamp gave the News a faster target: start building in 2028 and, ideally, finish by the end of that year. He said the city will ask the Council for $3.3 million in next year’s capital budget to hire architects and produce cost estimates.

“This is going to be one of the most ambitious building projects the city has undertaken in quite a long time,” Swanekamp said.

There is a money question, too. Ryan put the first remediation and renovation borrowing for the site into a package of nearly $30 million in emergency projects to be borrowed through the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority. The Council was ready to approve that package this week but held off at the request of City Comptroller Barbara Miller-Williams, according to the News.

Ryan said that once designs and firmer cost estimates are done, the city will run a fundraising drive for grants, donations and sponsorships. “There’s a lot of people who are interested in helping us fund this facility, so we’re going to do a full fundraising campaign as part of this,” he said.

‘Two legs or four’

Fillmore District Council Member Mitch Nowakowski, whose district includes both the old shelter and the new site, called the project a chance to reuse a building that has sat empty for years.

“We have to invest in ourselves for a city that is built for all of us, whether you have two legs or four,” Nowakowski said.

Buffalo police still use the yard on the property to train K-9 dogs. A city spokesperson told the News the project is expected to upgrade that training area as well.

Public Works Commissioner Nolan Skipper said the DPW has already started conceptual designs and cost estimates. “We are excited for this location as it provides an opportunity to rehabilitate and reuse an existing city-owned building while also having an ideal property footprint for expansion,” Skipper said.

‘No Band-Aid is big enough’

Barbara Carr, co-chair of the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee and a former Erie County SPCA director, said she started getting calls about conditions at the city shelter in the early 1990s. Little has changed since, she said.

“Each (previous) administration has put a Band-Aid of sorts here and there on what we have, but no Band-Aid is big enough to fix this, our old animal shelter,” Carr said. “Our current leadership doesn’t believe in Band-Aids; they want solutions.”

The city will keep fixing up Oak Street in the meantime. In June, the Ryan administration announced more than $412,000 in grants for the old shelter, covering more kennel space, a new HVAC system, flooring, sound-dampening ceiling tiles, new cat kennels and an outdoor play area.

Maria Scarpone, a volunteer for more than 15 years, said she hopes the attention brings in more volunteers and foster homes. “They put you in a better mood,” she said of the animals. “They don’t care how you look. They don’t care how much money you have.”

The project still needs the Council to approve the city’s capital budget.