Ribbon cutting for the MAPS 4 Louisa McCune Animal Welfare Center
Published on November 03, 2026
Everyone is invited to join OKC leaders and adoptable dogs for the ribbon ceremony of the new MAPS 4 Oklahoma City Louisa McCune Animal Welfare Center, a 70,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility that will transform animal welfare services in Oklahoma City.
The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. on Nov. 17. The new center is located behind the current building at 2805 South Bryant Avenue.
Tours of the new center will be available immediately after the ribbon cutting.
To help keep animals as calm and comfortable as possible, they will be moved into the new facility after the ceremony. Staff and volunteers will ensure the transition is as stress‑free as possible.
The $42-million center, funded through MAPS 4, is a critical investment in making OKC a safer and more welcoming place for residents and pets.
The center is named in honor of the late Louisa McCune, a passionate advocate for animals in Oklahoma City. Through her work as Director of the Kirkpatrick Foundation, she was instrumental in securing MAPS 4 funding for the center. Mayor David Holt appointed her to serve on the MAPS 4 Neighborhood Subcommittee. McCune passed away in 2024 from cancer.
The animal shelter features four entrances, one for each service: adoption, intake, training and the clinic. The center’s layout will improve the center’s flow, safety and hygiene.
The building features separate cat and dog kennel wings designed to create quieter, less stressful spaces for pets awaiting adoption. The square footage of the dog kennel areas will increase from 4,428 in the old building to over 12,000 square feet in the new center.
The new center will have added flexibility with large, configurable kennels, which can more than double the current capacity for dogs, if needed. Each kennel can combine with the adjacent kennel to create more space for the animals when capacity allows.
Cat housing also expands, with the cat condo area increasing from 1,050 square feet to 2,060 square feet.
The center includes outdoor play yards covered with artificial turf for exercise and socialization, as well as a training room and meeting spaces for events and education.
This winter, a 14-foot-tall carbon steel sculpture of a dog whose wind-blown fur transforms into a tangle of metal tree branch rods will be installed in front of the center. The large-scale sculpture was created by Olga Ziemska.
A second phase of the project will add a 2,800-square-foot barn and pasture. Construction will begin next year after the old building is demolished.
HSE Architects and Connolly Architects designed the center, and Crossland Construction was the general contractor.
MAPS 4 is a debt-free public improvement program funded by a temporary penny sales tax that will raise a projected $1.07 billion over eight years. Oklahoma City voters approved the sales tax to fund MAPS 4 in a special election on Dec. 10, 2019, moving forward with a unique and ambitious plan to transform our community. The temporary penny sales tax funding MAPS 4 began April 1, 2020, and ends in 2028. More than 70 percent of MAPS 4 funding is dedicated to neighborhood and human needs. The rest is for quality of life and job-creating initiatives. The MAPS 4 Citizens Advisory Board and its six subcommittees will guide MAPS 4 planning and implementation, making recommendations to the City Council. The Council has final authority on MAPS 4. The MAPS Investment and Operating Trust developed a strategic investment plan to support long-term sustainable funding for MAPS 4 projects' operational expenses and maintenance. Visit okc.gov/maps4 for more.