The groundbreaking for the new Table Mountain Animal Center is set for Tuesday, June 30, beginning at 10:30 a.m. The new facility is being constructed on the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, which is located on the south side of West Sixth Avenue, near the Indiana Street exit. 

The facility, being designed and built by Weitz/Sholar, will be approximately 30,000 square feet in a single story building so as not to block the mountain view for fairground visitors or nearby residents. The estimated completion of the project is Fall, 2010.

County and city governments are responsible for public safety and the well being of their residents. While governments often establish reasonable regulations and restrictions to enhance public safety, our partnership with the Table Mountain Animal Center Foundation is a unique, proactive approach.

Jefferson County and the cities of Arvada, Golden, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and Westminster created and support the Table Mountain Animal Center Foundation. To keep Jeffco residents and pets safe, the partners are dedicated to providing an animal shelter that:

• Confines animals that are vicious or not under control.
• Provides a temporary home when animals are lost or abandoned.
• Educates the community about responsible pet ownership and animal welfare.
• Serves as an adoption facility to find new homes for dogs and cats that urgently need them.

The aging concrete building that now houses TMAC was built 33 years ago, when the number of dogs, cats and other pets that passed through its doors was a fraction of what it is today; and when modern heating, ventilation and sanitary systems for healthy pet care had not yet been designed.

Rather than try to retrofit this building, located on county owned land near Interstate 70 and State Highway 58, a new building will be more functional, cost effective and designed to provide a high quality and healthy environment for the animals and people it will serve. It is much needed, as Table Mountain Animal Center is the second largest animal shelter in the Denver-metro area.

The Jefferson County Commissioners set aside $3 million in county funds to help construct the facility and have provided County land for the new building at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, near the intersection of W. Sixth Avenue and Indiana St. Additionally the County will issue Certificates of Participation (COPs) to raise another $5.2 million for this center. The dog licensing revenue will be used to pay off these certificates.

While the county’s $3 million in cash and $5.2 in COPs will be sufficient to build a basic shelter and impound facility, an additional $1.7 million is needed to finish the adoption center and education facilities that are envisioned, and to build an endowment for ongoing operations.

The TMAC Foundation has launched a capital campaign to raise the remaining funds to further enhance this important community resource.