QUINCY - Quincy City Council members approved a new animal shelter plan and contractor Tuesday, The new shelter will cost the city $787,346 and will be built by Shawn Cole Construction, Inc. of Spokane.

The approval was the culmination of efforts on the part of supporters of a new shelter, including shelter manager Rachel Lewis.

When Lewis began her new job two years ago as the shelter manager, she immediately started dreaming of a new, larger facility.

The current shelter was initially built as 72-hour holding facility in 2005 and was not meant to permanently house animals, she said.

The main problems were inadequate ventilation and septic systems that can cause serious odor issues, she said. That is troublesome, she says, when trying to create a pleasant atmosphere in which people want to adopt their new family member.

So she developed a wish list of items that a dynamic and engaging animal shelter should have.

Along with a functioning ventilation and septic system, the goal was a shelter twice as large, closer to town, with indoor/outdoor runs, separate play rooms for dogs and cats, a puppy nursery and a conference/education room to teach pet owners how to interact and take care of their new addition.

The new shelter will be built on the corner of Sixth Ave NE and B Street, closer to town, and will be 2500 square feet, almost exactly twice the size of the current facility.

It will have separate cat and dog play areas, where potential owners can get to know their future pet.

Lewis said that the cat room will be set up similar to a living room, so visitors can see how a cat would act in the house. The dog playroom will have many toys, she said, and prospective owners will be encouraged to play with and get to know the dog.

Lewis said she did not want to forget the wonderful volunteers that daily help the shelter, so the new shelter will have a locker room for volunteers to keep their purses, jackets and other personal items.

Quincy City Engineer Anthony Belino said that construction will likely begin in mid-March but that could be delayed because of the weather.

The city received a total of 12 bids on the project.