New Shelter Information

City of Stamford Funds New Animal Shelter

After over 7 years of planning and research, SASA hired the architectural firm of Rauhaus, Freedenfeld & Associates to work on a schematic design for the new shelter that would address the inadequacies of the current facility, comport with the Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s new requirements, and give Stamford a state-of-the-art facility for the benefit of our homeless animal population, the shelter staff and volunteers and the community at large. SASA’s advocacy was instrumental in getting the full cost of the shelter included in the City’s capital budget request for Fiscal Year 2021-22. After many presentations before the city boards, the full allocation was approved! What a happy day that was!

It took over a year, however, for the project to go out to RFP (Requests for Proposal) to find the architectural firm that would be responsible for assembling the construction drawings. Over 6 firms submitted proposals and Rauhuas, Freedenfeld & Associates (rf&a) was selected. RF&A has many decades of experience designing animal shelters and animal care facilities so we are in great hands!

It took another few months and many presentations to the various city boards to get RF&A’s contract approved, but once that was secured, a building committee was formed by Mayor Simmons’ administration - SASA plays an active role on that committee. Currently, SASA and city officials have been meeting 2-3 times each month to go over the specific design elements. As of February 2024, we expect that the construction documents will be completed in a few months, at which time the project will go out to bid one more time to select the construction firm that will build the new shelter, with a groundbreaking sometime in early 2025!