BURLINGTON, Ky. – The new Boone County animal shelter has a catio, floor-to-ceiling windows and twice the space of the current facility.

It’s named the Ron & Sherrie Lou Noel Boone County Animal Shelter in honor of the late Boone County residents who pitched in a major donation for the project. They, along with the Joanie Bernard Foundation and others, contributed $3 million since 2019 to help pay for a new shelter. The rest of the $5 million came from grants or was allocated from the Boone County Fiscal Court.

“We knew from the beginning that we wanted to … offer more opportunities for community engagement,” Colleen Bray, animal shelter services director, said. “But we also knew that that wasn’t necessarily taxpayer responsibility.”

The 16,000-square-foot building is replacing a facility that was built in 1979, then occasionally updated and expanded. The old shelter is about half a mile away from the new digs that sit on almost 10 acres next to England Idlewild Park in Burlington.

Here are some of the most notable things to know about the animal shelter:

• It won’t house more animals. The Boone County animal shelter can currently hold about 100 animals, which will be the same amount as the new shelter. But Bray said it will provide the animals with a greater “quality of life.”

• The new shelter was designed with a space for events, like education opportunities for students.

• It has a catio! One of the cat runs opens up to a covered outdoor area so the felines can enjoy a nice breeze. Steel mesh will keep the cats from escaping. An organization called Friends of the Shelter donated money specifically for the feature.

• At the new shelter, people can meet their potential pets in one of two designated rooms. It’s an upgrade from the storage area where people currently meet with pets. That storage area also serves as the employee break room and volunteer training room.

• The building was specifically designed to appear bright and airy so more people will want to spend time with the animals. The entryway has floor-to-ceiling windows, every dog kennel has an indoor and outdoor space, and there’s a large fenced-in area behind the building where dogs can play.

• The project was built on an area that was serving as a dog park. But that doesn’t mean people won’t be able to let their pooches off-leash again soon. A new dog park is planned on the other side of England Idlewild Park.

• The animal shelter runs a pet food pantry that will have a designated space for food storage and pick-up.

Animals began moving into the shelter Monday. It’s currently slated to open in mid-March. You can keep up with the details about the new shelter on the organization’s Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Boone County’s new animal shelter: Where is it, how much did it cost?