The Grant County Humane Society now owns its new home at 500 E. Business 151 in Platteville.

Thanks to almost $200,000 in donations at the end of December, including two anonymous donations totaling $160,000, the humane society made its last payment for the building Thursday.

The Humane Society is moving out of its quarters in the Lancaster Veterinary Clinic into a property that will allow it to house more animals and be closer to one of its largest sources of volunteers, UW–Platteville.

The Platteville Common Council approved a conditional use permit for the property April 25. Two weeks earlier the council approved using the Freudenreich Animal Care Trust, about $150,000, to help in the purchase of the vacant building. The Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin, which administered the city’s Freudenreich fund, approved the transfer to close the fund.

The Humane Society’s Lancaster site was designed for six dogs and six cats, but now has 14 dogs and nine cats, with more turned away daily from throughout Wisconsin and Illinois.

Humane society president Cari Schaffer, DVM, said the society is now focusing on remodeling the building. It is working with Delta 3 Engineering and Lifeline Audio Video Technologies of Platteville and a Verona sign company on building design.

“People should start to see some changes happening,” said Schaffer.

Part of the end-of-year donations are also being used to offset rising costs to care for the animals in the Lancaster facility because “we have so many animals in the shelter right now,” she added.

Immediate plans are to remove the cubicles and office furniture of the building’s most recent tenant, work on the grounds as spring approaches, and raise about $80,000 for the engineering work and signage. It also plans to raise money so “the organization can be solvent for operating costs based on donations, events, adoptions and many of the community programs we plan to offer.”

Schaffer said the humane society is looking for a matching- grant opportunity for the engineering work and signage costs. The East Business 151 building was the site of Grizzly Flats, a roller skating rink owned by Richard Brockman, who owned The Platteville Journal for 32 years.