Nine years since the idea was considered, four buildings and 10 sections on site have been knocked down – a step that has taken four years to achieve.
The buildings that no longer stand dated back to 1949 and have housed thousands of animals over the decades.
‘It’s got to the point where maintaining these buildings was hugely expensive and they weren’t ideal for the current methods of looking after animals,’ said GSPCA manager Steve Byrne.
Including the demolition and building of the new areas, the process is expected to take a year and a half with a team of builders from local firm Breton on site five days a week.
‘We’re looking at with all the fees involved, demolition and build, a cost of approximately £3.7m.,’ said Mr Byrne and so far, the GSPCA has raised £1.5m. towards this.
‘We wouldn’t have lasted 152 years without the wonderful community we’ve got here in Guernsey,’ he said.
Back in 2020, the GSPCA reached tender stage on the project, but the build was delayed three years by the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in a rethink of design and structure.
The GSPCA helps more than 3,000 wild and domestic animals annually including dogs, seals, hedgehogs and wild birds, and these new areas will increase the space for all these animals.
One building will be dedicated to many species of wildlife and will include a series of purpose-built rooms in a U-shape, some with pools for rescued seal pups.
Another building will be a new kennel, separate from the wildlife building.
‘This is moving into the most modern facilities that we’ve had in recent times for animals,’ said Mr Byrne.
Although it is bitter sweet for some of the staff to see these buildings go, Mr Byrne said that his team were also looking forward to working in up-to-date facilities.
A number of issues have also emerged around the build, including the loss of parking – though Mr Byrne said that a neighbour may be prepared to help – and the loss of boarding kennels and associated income.
‘It is an incredibly complex project with the GSPCA still operating, with lots of communication needed from both sides,’ said Brent Green, managing director of Breton.
Another challenge will be presented when building the kennels sitting right at the heart of the shelter.
‘When we move onto later jobs it will be key not to make much noise so as not to disturb the animals,’ said Mr Green.
The GSPCA looks forward to finally being able to have wildlife in one area and domestic animals in another, following the lead of thousands of other shelters around the world.
‘It’s a bit of a chess game to make sure we can operate as normally as we can, albeit a new normal,’ said Mr Byrne.
Hopefully islanders will continue supporting the shelter’s build, he said.
‘Being a charity of 152 years we’re constantly looking into the future, and this is future proofing us for many decades to come.’
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