SPCA Cincinnati is rolling out a $3.5 million expansion that it says will get more local pets healthy and into homes faster, with a new medical center at its Sharonville campus and a street-level adoption hub in Over-the-Rhine. Leaders say the plan is built to speed treatment, expand foster operations and put adoptable animals directly in front of city foot traffic. Together, the OTR adoption storefront and Sharonville medical facility mark the largest investment in the organization’s more than 150-year history.
According to a press release from SPCA Cincinnati, the combined projects total $3.5 million and fold in a roughly $3 million medical investment, expanded foster capacity and a new downtown adoption storefront. The Sharonville medical building, to be named the Peter G. Courlas & Nicholas Tsimaras Medical Center, will cover about 4,000 square feet and is designed to boost surgical volume, diagnostics and intensive-care space. Construction at Sharonville is expected to begin in summer 2026, and the group plans to convert its existing clinical space there into a dedicated foster center.
New adoption center in Over-the-Rhine
The new adoption center will fill an approximately 1,800-square-foot, street-level space at 1312 Main Street, outfitted with dog kennels, meet-and-greet rooms and a cat adoption area aimed at making animals highly visible to people walking by. The Main Street site is expected to open in fall 2026, and SPCA officials told WKRC Local 12 the storefront is meant to connect pets with potential adopters in a high-traffic neighborhood. Leaders describe the OTR hub and Sharonville upgrades as parts of one system designed to clear bottlenecks and move animals into homes more quickly.
Expanded medical capacity at Sharonville
The Peter G. Courlas & Nicholas Tsimaras Medical Center will add operating rooms, diagnostics and intensive-care space that SPCA leaders say will let the team take on more surgeries and more complex medical cases, SPCA Cincinnati said in its announcement. In 2025 the medical team performed more than 1,600 surgeries and gave over 5,200 vaccines, according to the organization’s release. “This facility changes what’s possible for our team and the animals we serve,” Dr. Jennifer Smith, vice president of medical services, said in the statement.
Funding, community role and timeline
The SPCA says the expansion is backed in part by philanthropic gifts and will depend on ongoing community support to finish construction and staffing. Board Chair Joelle Ragland called the investment a “defining moment,” and 3CDC’s Christy Samad praised the project as a meaningful partnership for Over-the-Rhine, WKRC Local 12 reports. Officials expect ground to break at Sharonville in summer 2026 and the OTR adoption center to open in fall 2026, with donors, volunteers and foster families playing central roles in getting animals healthy and into permanent homes.
