Syracuse parks staff seek $500,000 for design work on proposed city dog shelter at White Oaks Park

Syracuse City parks staff and councillors discussed plans to build a larger municipal dog shelter on the White Oaks Park campus and requested $500,000 in bonding to pay for site investigations and design work, officials said at a Parks Department meeting.

"So, currently, as you all know, we partner with a dog shelter in Jamesville. And so the goal for the city or for parks is to build a larger shelter to house more dogs because as we know, stray dogs currently is a is a huge problem in our community," said Rashida Caldwell, chair of parks, opening the discussion.

Parks architect Josh Wilcox told the group the department has preliminarily estimated construction at roughly $300 to $350 per square foot and has scaled an earlier, larger concept down. "We were looking at a 10,000 square foot building, but we've scaled that back a little bit. We don't need 80 kennels. We could start low at, like, a 40 kennel, 40 kennels to 60 or so and just keep scaling it from there," Wilcox said. He said the department is asking the council to bond $500,000 largely to pay for site investigation and design; any unused design funds would be applied to construction.

Why it matters

City staff and outside consultants said a new facility is needed in part because state regulatory changes require municipalities to have access to sheltering capacity (referenced in discussion as "Article 7" of state law). Officials said the city currently contracts with a partner shelter in Jamesville and uses an additional contracted bunkhouse; existing municipal kennel space at the Second Chance facility is 10 indoor kennels with runs.

What officials said and proposed

- The parks campus at White Oaks was presented as the primary option because other privately owned or residential-adjacent parcels generated limited market interest. Wilcox said earlier searches over about four years looked at private and public properties but returned few viable, nonresidential sites.

- Cost and scale: Wilcox gave a preliminary build-cost range of about $300–$350 per square foot and said the department initially modeled a 10,000-square-foot building. The department has narrowed the program and gave an illustrative target of 40–60 kennels, with the Jamesville partner facility previously built at about $350,000–$375,000 for a small (roughly 16-kennel) unit. Wilcox said a larger new build could be in the neighborhood of $2.5 million or more, depending on scope.

- Design and site work: Parks staff said geotechnical and other site testing are needed before design. Wilcox estimated site-investigation costs could start as low as $20,000 and range up to $200,000 depending on scope; other comparable park investigations and pool contracts, he said, have reached $100,000–$200,000.

- Current capacity and operations: Parks staff said the city’s municipal kennel capacity at Second Chance is 10 indoor kennels with outdoor runs (the facility had been configured for 16 kennels previously). The city also pays for contracted space at an off-site "bunkhouse," which provides roughly 30–35 additional spaces through the contract. Adoption and turnover rates vary by animal; staff said most dogs that went through municipal care since November have been adopted, but adoption rates have declined regionally, increasing shelter occupancy.

Community, site and program concerns

Several councilors and staff raised concerns about placing a shelter near nodes of future development. One councillor said the area near Progress Park and the Inner Harbor is likely to see significant residential and commercial growth and urged a comprehensive plan for the larger block before committing to a permanent shelter location. "That part of town will probably see more development than any other part of town in the coming years," a councilor said, adding that developers might seek leases or that the city could want to preserve parkland for other public uses.

Matt O'J, Commissioner of Assessment, described an Erie Boulevard West site the city considered as likely contaminated and costly to acquire. "Between the acquisition cost, you know, 7 figures, and the likely history of the property, just didn't think it was wise to get into a property like that," he said.

Consultant Stephanie Heath, who said she has worked with municipal and municipal-adjacent shelters and with nonprofits, urged the group to treat the project as both a facility and a community program. "When you have a space, a community space, you think, what can I do with this community space?" Heath said, listing vocational programming, humane education and partnerships with parks and youth organizations as potential benefits. Heath also noted a recent state budget allocation she described as about $10 million for shelter capital funding that municipalities could pursue once a local project is moving.

Design and aesthetic expectations

AJ, the city architect in parks, said the department will aim for a building that fits the neighborhood and the larger parks campus and pledged that the design will be intentional: "We're not gonna have some concrete brutalist moment. It's gonna look like something that belongs in a city that serves the public," he said.

Next steps and information requests

Councilors asked staff to produce basic location maps showing the Spencer Street and Kirkpatrick Street options on the White Oaks campus, circulate the state "Article 7" guidance summarized in a presentation, and share the city's contract with Second Chance so councillors can review operational arrangements and costs. Parks staff said they will solicit location- and site-specific studies through a consultant RFP and that further meetings will follow.

No formal motion or vote on bonding was recorded during the discussion. Staff characterized the $500,000 ask as a request to fund site investigation, design work and preliminary planning; councilors requested more detail and maps before a final funding decision.

Ending

Parks staff said they will circulate the presentation on state standards, location maps for the White Oaks options and the Second Chance contract, and schedule a follow-up meeting to present site-study options and estimated budgets.