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Baypath celebrates start of construction for new shelter

Members of Baypath Humane Society’s staff, board and Campaign Cabinet, along with shelter dog Pigeon, pose for a ceremonial groundbreaking photo at the shelter’s Fruit Street property. PHOTO/NICK SCHOFIELD

Representatives from Baypath Humane Society held a ceremony Thursday afternoon to break ground on the shelter’s new facility on Fruit Street.

“We’re so excited to be at this point,” said Liz Jefferis, executive director of Baypath. “We still have some funds to raise. … We’ll look to close this in through next year.”

Jefferis said the process has taken just about 10 years. “We first went in front of the Zoning Advisory Committee in 2015,” she noted.

She went on to thank the town and the numerous committees that have helped the project get to this point. “They are incredibly supportive of us,” she said.

The Fruit Street facility, when completed, will be nearly four times larger than Baypath’s current 2,000-square-foot structure at Legacy Farms North Road. Features of the new shelter include updated and expanded housing facilities for the animals, a community room and advanced medical spaces for diagnostics and spay-and-neuter activities.

According to Jefferis, the developers anticipate finishing construction on the new shelter by the spring of 2026.

“This is a great project,” said David Masiello, president of RP Masiello, the company managing the project construction. “We’re excited to do it.” He anticipated crews would begin laying the foundation for the building in the next 3-4 weeks.

Workers will continue clearing and preparing the site in the meantime. As work goes on, Jefferis said Baypath will continue to raise money to fund the project.

Baypath entered a public funding phase in October 2024 after raising $4 million. It surpassed its $5 million goal in March and now sits at $5.2 million, according to the Building Baypath’s Future website. The shelter hopes to raise $6.5 million total.

To get there, Jefferis encouraged community members to donate and remain involved. “We’d love people to keep joining us on this project,” she said.

— NICK SCHOFIELD

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Photo of the Day

Kids from Juniper Trail in the Legacy Farms development pose for a photo with Liz Jefferis (right), executive director of Baypath Humane Society. The group recently held a bake sale and raised $900 to donate to the animal shelter.

PHOTO/KALA ARPUTHARAJ