05212016 - News Article - Animal shelter benefactor offers $1 million to county

Animal shelter benefactor offers $1 million to county
Post-Tribune
May 21, 2016 - 11:06AM
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-porter-animal-gift-st-0522-20160521-story.html#nt=related-content

Four years after an anonymous community member offered a substantial donation toward the construction of a new Porter County Animal Shelter, she came forward Friday night to reveal both her identity and the amount of her donation.

Jacki Stutzman, aunt of Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, addressed the 200 or so people gathered for a disco-themed fundraiser at the Expo Center and offered $1 million for the project. The Porter County Commissioners Ball raised money to buy equipment for the new shelter.

"This is just thrilling to me, knowing the animals need a better place. I congratulate Porter County for doing this," said Stutzman, of Valparaiso.

The forward movement of the project, after commissioners considered an assortment of locations and explored a partnership with the rescue group Lakeshore PAWS that didn't come to fruition, prompted Stutzman to go public.

"It's going to happen, and I was always the anonymous donor while it was in the planning stage," she said. "We just thought the timing was right and I'm excited to do it. It's going to happen finally. This has always been a passion for me."

Stutzman is making "a huge impact on the quality of life" in the county, Blaney said, and is on or has been on a wide variety of community boards, including serving as current president of the Memorial Opera House Foundation.

The new shelter will be built on county-owned land along Indiana 49 between the sheriff's department and the Expo Center. The county's highway department razed an old house and outbuildings on the site earlier this month to make way for the building.

The donation, Blaney said, ensures that the new shelter will become a reality. She expects the remaining funds for the project to come from $10 million from the 2007 sale of the county hospital that was held back from investment in a foundation to be used for capital projects.

"We still have to go in front of the council and see if that's where it should come from," she said, adding that conversation would take place during Tuesday's County Council meeting.

Larson-Danielson Construction is the likely firm for the project, and their proposed design will cost around $2.7 million. Commissioners are expected to finalize the details of a contract with the firm at their June 14 meeting.

Stutzman is no stranger to the Porter County Animal Shelter.

She was involved at the facility in November 2011, when former shelter director Jon Thomas first took over, and saw the need for a new facility to replace the one at 2056 Heavilin Road. County officials have long said was outdated and too small to handle the number of animals that come through its doors.

For shelter director Toni Bianchi, the house coming down was the first step in making the shelter a reality, and the donation is the second step.

"Now it's full steam ahead," she said.