Syracuse officials seek $500,000 to study new dog shelter at White Oaks Park campus

Syracuse City parks officials and council members discussed plans to build a larger municipal dog shelter on the White Oaks Park campus and asked the City Council to consider a $500,000 bonding request to fund site studies and design work, officials said.

The effort aims to bring Syracuse into compliance with state requirements for municipal sheltering (referred to in the meeting as “Article 7”) and to expand the city’s capacity to handle a growing stray-dog problem. Parks Chair Rashida Caldwell said the department has hunted for suitable properties for four years and is proposing redeveloping the White Oaks Park “campus” on Spencer Street so a shelter would be co-located with a visitor/welcome center and trail access.

Parks project manager Josh Wilcox said preliminary cost metrics place construction at roughly $300 to $350 per square foot based on examples from other municipalities; the department had considered a roughly 10,000-square-foot building but has scaled that back and is planning for an initial facility sized for about 40 to 60 kennels. Wilcox said site and design work, including geotechnical testing, will determine final scope and cost and estimated…