ORLANDO, Fla. — In September 2021, a fire destroyed one of Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando’s animal shelters.
Nearly nine months later, the nonprofit is slowly bouncing back.
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Renovations are underway on a new, temporary cat shelter in Orlando’s Parramore neighborhood.
Channel 9′s Christy Turner got a chance to tour the work in progress.
Workers told WFTV they’re looking forward to a fresh start.
“I think it means moving forward. It means ... coming out even stronger than we were before the fire, hopefully,” Pet Alliance’s Cathy Rodgers said.
READ: How you can help Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando following fire
More than a dozen cats died in the September fire at the organization’s Conroy Road building.
It still pains Rodgers.
“It’s something that you never possibly thought would happen — and it did.”
The State Fire Marshal’s Office ruled the fire an accident.
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Now, plans are in the works for a permanent shelter on John Young Parkway.
Rodgers said the project is still in the design process and she hopes to have the drawings for the new building done this summer.
Permitting will follow and Pet Alliance could break ground by this fall.
In the meantime, Pet Alliance is making progress on a separate, cats-only facility near downtown Orlando, across from Exploria Stadium.
Slated for a July opening, the facility along West Central Boulevard will boast a complete sprinkler system, along with other fire safety and fire retardant measures built into the structure.
“This will just allow us to have more space and to better manage our cat population,” Rodgers said.
She added that the end goal of the temporarily cat shelter will be to turn it into an affordable vet clinic once Pet Alliance’s permanent shelter is finally complete.
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