02/25/2026
Building spaces for people and animals - check back for updates as we progress through design and construction! 🐶🥰🐱
After getting a look at plans to improve the Smith County Animal Shelter, the Commissioners Court voted to go out for bids on the project.
Two outdoor green spaces will be added behind the shelter and will include fencing and shade structures, Fitzpatrick Architects Director Daniel Romo said. A 12,000-square-foot space will be ample room for dogs to be taken out for exercise or to hold events. Another, smaller 1,700-square-foot space will be added next to it and used for letting out one dog to meet potential adopters.
To make room for those green spaces, an old, covered parking area and storage buildings that are no longer used will be demolished.
The Smith County Facility Services Department recently relocated and their former building, which is right next to the shelter, will become office and meeting space for the Animal Control Department.
Lighting, cameras and landscaping will be added to the green spaces, as well as the area between both buildings. A sidewalk will also be added to connect both buildings.
Smith County Animal Control Supervisor Colten Parsell said he liked the plans to house the animal control officers in a separate building than the shelter. He said it would be good to have customers coming into the shelter to adopt a dog separated from people coming in for an animal control issue.
The shelter building will have ventilation, circulation and exhaust improvements made to help with the odor problem the shelter faces now. Even though the dog cages are cleaned daily, the smell of all the dogs is bleeding over into the shelter’s lobby area and meet-and-greet room. They also hope to enlarge that room, where a potential adopter and a dog can have their first meeting.
About $1.2 million in ARPA funding has been set aside for the project.
The Commissioners Court voted to approve the plans and to allow the Purchasing Department to bid out the project.
“I am overjoyed with these drawings,” Smith County Animal Shelter Coordinator Holli Jones said. “I’m excited for our staff, our community and our dogs.”
She said they have many ideas for growing community engagement and holding events. Renovations to the shelter and added outdoor space will allow them to do that.