Construction of Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley’s new $1.9 million shelter is nearing completion after being delayed because of the coronavirus.

On Sunday, about two dozen dogs and their owners turned out for a pet blessing ceremony at the shelter’s new home along Church Street in New Kensington.

Officials with the no-kill shelter have been working for years to find and fund a new location to provide better amenities for staff and animals. The Church Street building is a former school once owned by Logans Ferry Presbyterian Church. It’s about four times larger than the shelter’s current building on Linden Avenue.

“Things have been getting done,” said Phyllis Framel, treasurer and chairwoman of the capital campaign for the new shelter. “We actually finally got our occupancy permit on Thursday, which is a huge step.”

Work on the new building came to halt in March because of the state’s orders to stop nonessential building projects. It picked up again over the summer. Officials hope to move in by the end of November.

The pet blessing was held in honor of the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. Pastor Tim Sweigart of Logans Ferry Presbyterian Church blessed the new building and gave each pup in attendance an individual prayer.

“We’ve been wanting to do something like this for a long time, but we just never had space,” Framel said. “Now we have space for parking. We have this really nice, big yard.”

The shelter has remained open through the pandemic so staffers could care for the animals, but had to cancel some in-person fundraising events due to social distancing restrictions.

A dog walk at Northmoreland Park last weekend and Sunday’s pet blessing were able to be held in-person because people could social distance. Other events, such as bingo and a Cash Bash, are being done virtually.

The shelter is also selling raffle tickets and sending out letters to ask for donations, Framel said.

“We’re trying to keep the place going,” Framel said. “We got a Paycheck Protection Program loan, which was a godsend, but that ran out in the middle of August.”

Patty Prior of New Kensington adopted two of her dogs, Harley and Reggie, from Animal Protectors. A former volunteer, Prior said the shelter needed more space, which the new building will provide.

“From what I saw when I toured it, they had a lot more (room),” Prior said. “They had a training room, bigger offices. I think it’s going to be great because (the old building) was too small.”

Carla Duerr of Plum said she would like to start volunteering with Animal Protectors when the new shelter opens. She attended Sunday’s pet blessing with her three-year-old English bulldog Gracie.

“I love how big it is. The space, they definitely needed the space,” Duerr said. “I haven’t seen it inside, but I can’t wait till it opens.”

Despite the setbacks, the shelter has been able to raise roughly $1.7 million for the project through grants and fundraising.

It did face an additional, unexpected cost, which was window replacement. Several windows at the new building had been broken by vandals or were accidentally broken during construction. The old windows also had asbestos in them and had to be removed, Framel said.

The window replacement is costing about $43,000. That cost wasn’t included in the original project budget. Framel said the shelter plans to ask people to donate to that cost through social media.

The new building will have a cat roam room, a “catio” outdoor patio, a cat medical room, separate rooms for cats and kittens and a greeting room. For the dogs, there will be three sets of kennels, a dog medical space and a room just for grooming. Additionally, there will be office space and a training and education room.

“The general contractor has a few things he has to finish up — the windows are the big thing now, and they’re coming next week,” Framel said. “I think everything else is pretty much done.”

The Animal Protectors website, animalprotectors.net, describes how to donate. The phone number is 724-339-7388.

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