DeWitt County will move closer to having a new animal shelter tomorrow night.

The DeWitt County Board will begin the process of transforming the former Black's Heating and Cooling building tomorrow night when a special meeting will be held to vote to hire an architect to do design work at the vacant property. According to Board Chair David Newberg, this is the first step in getting the ball rolling on the project.

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Because the structure is already built, Newberg says the process of transforming it to a multi-use building will be different. He explains because the building will be multi-use, they are going to work to set it up to be what they want.

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With nearly five-thousand square feet at the new facility, Newberg doubts it is all likely to be devoted to the animal shelter, but notes all options are on the table as a possibility. The new animal shelter will be a significant upgrade in both space and quality from it's current location.

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The Board would have taken a vote on the architect hire last Thursday, however, the item was left off the agenda, therefore, the Board could not take a vote. An agenda has been released for the special 6 pm meeting tomorrow night.