Bigger shelter, courthouse fixes part of County upgrades

Burke County is moving forward with several major construction and renovation projects, including a new animal shelter, updates to the courthouse, and improvements to the Human Resources Center.

County officials say the projects are intended to address space needs, modernize facilities, and prepare for future growth.

The new animal shelter will replace the county’s current facility and provide more space for housing strays and surrendered pets.

The shelter takes in about 2,500 strays and surrenders every year, said Burke County Manager Brian Epley. A building with only 16 dog kennels and fewer cat kennels doesn’t cut it when the county’s goal is to avoid euthanizing animals.

Burke County Animal Services’ new building, near the old 425 Kirksey Drive facility in Morganton, will be 16,000 square feet with 36 dog kennels and 44 cat kennels.

Construction is about 75% complete, Epley said, with contractors currently working on the masonry. The new building is expected to be finished in the first quarter of 2026.

The project costs about $7 million and is fully grant-funded. Donations are still being accepted. Anyone can make their mark on the new animal shelter. Donors can purchase the right to personalize anything from paving bricks to entire rooms in the facility.

Donations can be made online at www.burkecountyanimalservicesfoundation.com/shelter-store.

COUNTY COURTHOUSE UPDATES

Three reasons the county renovated the courthouse were to add a courtroom, make space for an additional assistant district attorney, and invest in the building’s longevity, Epley said.

The grant-funded project costs about $2.8 million, Epley said. He estimates it will be complete by Christmas.

“The district attorney’s office was totally out of space,” Epley said. “With our judicial jurisdiction restructuring … we’re going to be getting an additional assistant district attorney. We had nowhere to put them.”

Epley explained that the district attorney’s offices have been relocated to a once-unused basement area, making room for the clerk’s office to grow into the space they left behind.

“A courthouse is the single most expensive piece of capital infrastructure that a county is responsible for,” Epley said. “Building a new courthouse was simply unaffordable. We think we have a good courthouse here in the city … and so our goals were, how can we take this existing footprint, and make it suitable for continued use over the next couple of decades.”

The Burke County Courthouse is at 201 S. Green St. in Morganton.

HUMAN RESOURCES CENTER

The Human Resources Center at 700 E. Parker Road in Morganton houses the county’s health and social services departments. Between the two, about 250 county employees work in the building, Epley said.

“They also serve a Medicaid population. It’s about 34% of our total population,” Epley said. “So, it’s a high-intensity building. It’s been in dire need of investment for some time.”

The renovation project is still in the early stages, Epley said, with phase one having started only a few weeks ago.

Milestones for this project will include completion of design, architecture, and engineering. These milestones should be reached by June 2026, Epley said, and by December 2027, he expects “substantial completion” of the project.