The construction of a long-awaited new Montgomery County animal shelter could begin as soon as the end of September said James Stiles, assistant chief of building design and construction for the county’s Department of General Services.

County officials are waiting for bids from four interested construction companies that the departments selected as qualified and expect to award the contract by mid-September, Stiles said.

The nearly 47,000-square-foot main building -- to be built at the northwest corner of Muncaster Mill Road and Airpark Drive in the Redland neighborhood of Derwood is in the county’s six-year construction plan and is projected to open in 2013.

The county has allocated $23.7 million for the project, Stiles said.

The new shelter will replace the one on Rothgeb Drive in Rockville that has housed stray and seized animals in the county for more than 30 years. The Rockville facility is roughly half the size of its replacement, Stiles said.

That shelter has been a source of frustration for animal advocates who say its shortcomings including design problems, too little space, lack of natural light and few exercise areas, as well as antiquated and unreliable heating and cooling systems -- have made it harder for workers and volunteers to care for animals, keep them healthy and prepare them for adoption.

At a meeting with animal advocates about plans for the shelter this spring, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said he was “embarrassed” by Montgomery’s shelter and that he intends to see that a new facility is built despite the county’s tight budget.

“It’s going to happen in my administration and I don’t plan to be here beyond the next three years,” Leggett, who is in his second term, told the advocates at the March 22 meeting before asking for their help in raising contributions to help support the facility.

Montgomery County Partners for Animal Well-being, a nonprofit organization known as McPaw, has been formed to raise money for the shelter.

Contributions first will go to make sure the shelter is a “first-class” facility, McPaw chairman Allan S. Cohen said.

Although construction prices have been flat, there is some concern because prices have begun to increase and resources are limited, Stiles said Tuesday.

Designs for the new facility are meant to increase efficiency and reduce stress on animals.

Unlike the current shelter, the new one is slated to have an operating on-site veterinary clinic, radiant floor heat to keep dogs from getting cold, lots of windows to keep cats from getting bored and a ventilation system that exchanges air in the building 10 times per hour to cut the risk of transmitting disease.

Plans call for the new facility to be situated on seven of about 48 acres of county-owned land and to include classrooms, exercise areas, dogwalking trails, a separate building to store food and a livestock barn with four stalls and stacking coops.

The county has designated the other 41 acres of the parcel for the proposed Laytonia Recreational Park.

The main building is designed to LEED Silver standards for environmental sustainability and will have a partial green roof and office and meeting room space in a second story that extends to two-thirds of the building.

McPaw has raised more than $8,000 to directly benefit the shelter before its campaign has really begun, a figure that does not include “tens of thousands in in-kind contributions” to run the campaign, Cohen said.

One of McPaw’s first projects is selling brick pavers, as sponsorships, to be used on site.

mhyslop@gazette.net