WINDHAM — The $2 million, 15,540-square-foot horse arena and office building at the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals officially opened over the weekend.
The Lawrence J. Keddy and Marilyn Goodreau Equine Rehabilitation Facility will consolidate the nonprofit’s administrative operations under one roof. The organization focuses on horse rehabilitation at its 124-acre farm.
“Welcome Weekend was amazingly well attended and quite a treat for everyone,” said Meris Bickford, CEO of the organization.
She said that they have moved, though are not fully settled, into the new building.
“And it is spectacular,” she added.
Marilyn Goodreau, “MSSPA’s grand dame,” did the ribbon-cutting honors on Friday as the space fully opened,” Bickford said.
Goodreau said, “The society has been blessed with the opportunity to continue its life-saving work for another 150 years. Without our wonderful volunteers and generous supporters, it just wouldn’t have be possible to operate this horse shelter.”
JM Brown, of Hermon, was general contractor on the new building, which began in the spring.
The new building will also make life easier for the organization’s horses under care — currently 42 — that must exercise through the winter, said Meris Bickford, CEO of the organization.
Two-thirds of the building is the horse arena, the other 6,000 square feet is offices, an education center, meeting room and space to accommodate the organization’s 200-plus volunteers.
The building will also house the nonprofit’s yearly December open house, which is usually held in the 23-stall “big barn,” with the horses put out in the paddocks. Bickford said the event can draw 4,000 people over its four hours and it was a challenge to fit people into the horse barn.
The project was the first capital project for the organization in more than 40 years, and also included infrastructure, including new septic and water systems, parking and more.