A rendering provided by Baypath Humane Society shows the entrance of its proposed new building.

Baypath Humane Society is one step closer in its mission to provide greater animal care services throughout the MetroWest area.

The organization announced it has entered a public funding phase for its proposed facility at 66 Fruit Street. It has raised $4 million and hopes to bring that total to $6.5 million before breaking ground.

“We’re looking mid-next year to start construction,” said Elizabeth Jefferis, Baypath’s executive director, “and we’re going to begin permitting in the coming months.”

Baypath estimates the new shelter will take a year to complete once construction begins. When finished, it will be nearly four times larger than its 2,000-square-foot structure at 500 Legacy Farms North Road.

The process for a new building began in 2015, according to Jefferis. Baypath submitted a request for proposal for the 5-acre Fruit Street property in 2019.

That request was unanimously approved by the Select Board in 2020.

While Baypath had anticipated raising its funds and constructing the new facility three years after approval, factors including the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its timeline. Baypath did not end up signing the lease for Fruit Street until 2022.

“Everyone had bigger fish to fry,” Jefferis recalled. “We didn’t want to fundraise until we knew we had a lease.”

Features of the new shelter include a community room, an advanced medical space to handle diagnostics and spay-and-neuter activities, and updated housing facilities.

Space also is needed to comply with new regulations for animal shelters enacted in recent years.

“We want to do better by the animals, and we feel like we’ll be able to help them more efficiently,” Jefferis said of the new design.

The new shelter will be able to house more animals, but Jefferis reports that the more important aspect of the proposed design is a focus on process.

In the new building, animals will be housed depending on where they are in the shelter process — intake, quarantine, isolation, pre-adoption, adoption and so on. The size of the animal also will be a consideration.

How animals are brought into the shelter will change as well. Jefferis explained that the new design allows more privacy for surrenders and animal control professionals bringing animals into the building, away from other common areas.

“With better space, we will be able to move [the animals] along differently than right now,” said Jefferis. “We’ll be able to shorten length of stay and get more people and volunteers on site.”

Increasing visitor and personnel capacity also is a priority. Jefferis hopes the new building will be easier for visitors, volunteers and staff to navigate.

According to Jefferis, Baypath receives over 200 volunteers a week currently. Between them and shelter staff, there is not much room for people to move around.

“They deserve a better working environment,” Jefferis said.

The new building would give staff and volunteers more space to operate. As well, the proposed community room will allow Baypath to host educational programs, pet training and other community events.

All of these changes would help Baypath increase its ability to serve the region at a time when the need for animal welfare programs is increasing.

Baypath cares for about 1,000 cats and dogs annually, but Jefferis reports those numbers are growing.

“We’ve gotten the most Hopkinton strays this year in my 14 years of working here,” she said.

She went on to detail how local dog surrenders have risen 80% and the number of cats has increased 25% in the past year.

Jefferis points to difficult economic conditions and housing insecurity as driving factors behind the surge in surrenders. She says that both in Massachusetts and nationally, it is “a tough time in animal welfare.”

Jefferis is grateful for the trust Hopkinton has placed in the organization by offering a 50-year lease on Fruit Street.

“It’s just this amazing opportunity, and you don’t see it. … It doesn’t happen very often,” she said.

Added Jefferis: “This town is amazing; it’s such a great community to be a part of.”

Those interested in learning more about the project and donating to the cause can find more information on Baypath’s fundraising website at future.baypathhumane.org.