When you’re trying to operate an animal shelter in a building from 1955 that was once a grocery store and later a pet store , and has been falling into disrepair over the years ...
well, you just do the best you can. But now that Peaceable Kingdom animal shelter in Whitehall Township has received $1 million in renovations, the building looks a lot less its age. “This renovation project has been a dream for most of the board members,” Peaceable Kingdom board Chair Kathy Tomecek said.
“A [10-year] project in the making has finally been completed.” Peaceable Kingdom, which was founded in 1998, moved into the building at 1049 MacArthur Road 20 years ago. The volunteers at the no-kill shelter have worked for the last decade to secure donations and a loan for the project, which finished in the last couple of weeks.
Patricia Hower of Upper Macungie Township, a board member who started volunteering over a decade ago, said the funding went toward beautifying the building’s exterior, upgrading the equipment at the shelter’s veterinarian clinic, replacing outdated walls and flooring, and creating extra rooms for the animals. “It’s wonderful,” she said of the renovations. “I just feel the pets are so deserving .
.. to have a really nice place.
” Janet Dorwart of Egypt, another longtime Peaceable Kingdom volunteer and board member, called the renovations the highlight of her 10 years there and added that they were “absolutely beautiful.” “It’s the best feelin.
