Just days after cutting the ribbon on a new, 37,361-square-foot animal shelter, Marion County officials have approved the demolition of the previous site in southeast Ocala.
On Tuesday, June 2, the Marion County Board of County Commissioners officially approved a bid award to demolish the former Marion County Animal Services facility located at 5701 SE 66th Street in Ocala.
The demolition approval comes on the heels of the grand opening of the county’s new $22 million animal shelter located at 6405 W. Highway 40, near the Ocala International Airport.
According to county procurement records, the demolition project encompasses the removal of approximately 32,806 square feet of structures, access roads, parking areas, utilities, and associated site elements.
Once the physical structures are cleared away, the contractor will restore the property to a rough grade.
The demolition effort is being funded entirely by the county’s Solid Waste Disposal Fund. Facilities officials noted that the clearing of the old facility is being executed in preparation for a future expansion of the adjacent landfill.
The contract was awarded to Ocala-based Patriot Contracting of CF, LLC, which submitted the lowest, most responsive bid at $54,963.36.
The county received a total of six submittals for the project. Other bids submitted for the clearing work included A & A Trucking & Excavating at $124,294.00, Excavation Specialist LLC at $157,685.00, Williams Construction Company LLC at $175,962.50, Ho-Man Contracting LLC at $184,630.44, and NuJak Companies, Inc. at $252,976.40.
The departure from the SE 66th Street facility marks a massive operational upgrade for Marion County Animal Services. The old location had become heavily constrained, prompting a multi-year effort to find a scalable, long-term solution.
The newly completed complex on Highway 40 sits on a 20-acre parcel and features 37,361 square feet of total building space.
It includes 18,036 square feet of modernized, air-conditioned kennel space and a drastically expanded 2,017-square-foot medical clinic equipped with state-of-the-art surgical and intake rooms to better serve the community’s pets.
What are your thoughts on the county demolishing the old animal shelter to make room for a landfill expansion? Share your perspective in a comment below or write a letter to the editor.