$2m blowout delays animal wonder shelter

SPCA walkthrough

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The SPCA pet palace in Wellington's Mt Victoria will open six months later than planned, and cost $2 million more.

However, the charity is confident that the finished product will be "one of the seven wonder shelters of the world".

The SPCA had planned to spend $7m fitting out the former Chest Hospital and adding a new 900-square-metre home for dogs and puppies.

Wellington SPCA executive director Peter Mason said the project was now expected to cost $9m. "A huge effort has gone into developing [the] concept design into a fully working model."

The centre, in Alexandra Rd, was to open in March but that has been pushed back six months so the building can be strengthened before interior work starts.

The Wellington SPCA cares for more than 5000 animals each year. Mr Mason does not expect that to increase significantly when the new shelter opens.

"But the animals will be housed in much more spacious conditions which the public will be able to wander around. We hope that will speed up the adoption of animals.

"And we do expect a flood of volunteers wanting to take dogs for walks in the green belt."

The SPCA is raising money for the project from several sources, including personal pledges and bequests, but the main fundraiser is former Telecom boss Theresa Gattung.

She has so far raised $1.5m by selling naming rights to various parts of the building but she would not reveal who had bought them.

"No-one involved is doing this for publicity but because we care about the animals and want to create something great for them."

The former hospital, which was once used to treat TB patients and is listed with the Historic Places Trust, has three wings that fan out from what will become the SPCA reception area.

Visitors will walk through to an outdoor plaza that will be enclosed at the opposite end with a new building housing puppies for adoption.

Caging for cats for adoption will line one side of the plaza in the central wing, built in the 1970s. "That is not an historic wing so we can rip into that," Mr Mason said.

The other side of the plaza will feature an education centre for school groups and animal welfare conferences.

The third wing will contain three operating theatres and an animal quarantine area, but work is not expected to start on that until 2011. "The aim is to make it a people destination," Mr Mason said. "We would love to get to the point where people come just to have a picnic on the lawns around the building."

Long-term plans could also include a cafe but it is unclear whether it would be allowed by Wellington City Council, which owns the building.

- © Fairfax NZ News