116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Valley Humane Society will open first phase of $10.8 million building project
The building project has three phases of multiyear plan

Apr. 3, 2023 6:00 am
CEDAR RAPIDS — The first phase of a 18,000-square-foot expansion for Cedar Valley Humane Society has been delayed and will open in early May, but the nonprofit’s executive director says it’s worth the wait because it provides space for on-site vaccine clinics, food bank and training center.
The first building addition of the capital campaign is 5,000 square feet, which is located near the current building, with a courtyard in between. It is a much -needed space, said Lonnie Viner, executive director. The shelter has outgrown its original building, which hadn’t been updated since 1968. The organization, which relies on donations and private grants, has been raising funds and planning for the $10.8 million expansion since 2016.
Phase one costs are $2.8 million, phase two is $6 million and phase three will be about $2 million.
Viner said they were going to open in early April but had a problem with the electrical panel and had to wait 18 months for the parts. It still has to be wired and go through inspection before the building can be used.
“It’s worth every sleepless night and all the headaches,” Viner said. “We have been busting out at the seams.”
The animal shelter serves about 90,000 households over the unincorporated areas of Linn and Benton counties and North Liberty, Swisher, Tiffin, Shueyville, Coggon, Ely, Vinton and many other surrounding cities. This is its low-inventory month, but it’s almost kitten season and they will be “getting kittens by the hundreds” soon enough.
The first building phase isn’t an addition for the shelter, but the second phase will be. They will have capacity for twice as many animals as they currently have in the old building.
This first expansion will have space to conduct on-site vaccine clinics, which in the past had to be off-site because of space, Viner said. This building also has room for larger food bank and to conduct orientations on-site, as well as space to offer obedience classes and other advanced behavior classes year-round.
The nonprofit also will have space for board meetings and can offer two rooms for rent. The larger room has a kitchen, Viner said. The shelter is good place to have children's birthday parties because partygoers can play with the animals. Viner said they can also set up tours of the shelter.
Phase two of the multiyear plan will be the shelter and adoption center, to be built on the east side of the original building. There will be new kennels to ensure safety of all pets. Phase three will gut out the original building use it for quarantine areas for animals with health issues.
Viner said the project took longer because they needed to raise the necessary funds. The buildings are more costly because they have to use blocks, instead of lumber, because lumber would be a fire hazard. The property is not inside Cedar Rapids city limits, so they rely on well water, which deems the building must be made of blocks.
Viner said the building is more secure and safe being constructed with blocks. During the derecho in 2020, the shelter only lost a few shingles and had no other damage to the block building.
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
Construction continues on the Cedar Valley Humane Society in southeast Cedar Rapids on March 31. The organization will likely open phase one, a 5,000-square-foot building where it will be able to have vaccination clinics, expand the food bank and have year-round obedience and behavior modification classes, toward the end of April. The project is the first part of a $10 million expansion project that will see a new adoption center and the renovation of the original late 1960s-era building into administrative offices. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Winston, a Maine coon mix cat, is available for adoption as construction continues on the new meeting building at the Cedar Valley Humane Society in southeast Cedar Rapids. The organization will likely open phase one, a 5,000-square-foot building where it will be able to have vaccination clinics, expand the food bank and have year-round obedience and behavior modification classes, toward the end of April. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
A dog wash station is seen in the back of the new expansion as construction continues on the building at the Cedar Valley Humane Society on March 31, 2023. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
The meeting room in the new expansion at the Cedar Valley Humane Society in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
The new expansion building features a kitchen in addition to a meeting room that potentially could be rented out as construction continues at the Cedar Valley Humane Society in southeast Cedar Rapids on March 31, 2023. The organization will likely open phase one, a 5,000-square-foot building where it will be able to have vaccination clinics, expand the food bank and have year-round obedience and behavior modification classes, toward the end of April. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)