Dirt was already moving at 1600 E. Orchard Place on Monday as about 50 people gathered to watch Kiya Koda break ground on a new animal shelter, more than 50 years after the organization got its start housing animals in volunteers' homes. The ceremony marked a turning point for a nonprofit that has spent decades working out of what staff describe as a small, run-down and old building.
Kiya Koda, whose name means loving friends, was founded in 1973 and has operated for 53 years, according to indianola-ia.com. The shelter moved into its current location, a former veterinary clinic on Highway 65/69, sometime in the 1980s, and it has been outgrown ever since — the existing building has just 3,000 square feet, half the size planned for its replacement.
From ARPA Funds to a Six-Acre Purchase
The project's roots trace back to 2022, when the Warren County Board of Supervisors provided $125,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to Kiya Koda and suggested the organization use the money to buy land, per indianola-ia.com reporting. That suggestion led Kiya Koda to purchase almost six acres in the Indianola industrial park from Britt Sternquist of Sternquist Construction in 2023. Other reporting from indianola-ia.com put the purchased acreage at 5.59 acres, and the Indianola City Council has since approved site plans for the project, according to KNIA-KRLS, which reported the new facility will sit in an industrial park off Hillcrest Avenue in northeast Indianola.
The original vision called for an 11,000-square-foot building, but that plan was scaled back to roughly 6,000 square feet, not counting bonus space planned for a second level, per the same indianola-ia.com reporting. Kiya Koda leaders have said that relying solely on donations is not sustainable for another 50-plus years, a concern that shaped the decision to pair shelter space with revenue-generating operations.
Major Gifts Push Fundraising Past $1.9 Million
Fundraising for the new facility has drawn on both community events and major individual gifts, though reported totals vary by source. The indianola-ia.com account of Monday's groundbreaking states that Kiya Koda has raised $1.9 million toward a $2.6 million goal, while earlier indianola-ia.com reporting put the figure at more than $1 million raised of $2.4 million needed. indianola-ia.com also reports that the project's two Raise the Woof fundraisers brought in $139,000 and $210,000 respectively, while its coverage of the second event — attended by close to 300 people at the Red Acre Barn in Prole — put that night's total at $210,000.
Large individual gifts have also factored into the campaign. indianola-ia.com's reporting on Monday's ceremony credits Ardene and Bob Downing with a $555,000 gift and Doug Shull with a $750,000 gift to the new Kiya Koda Humane Society. The gifts were originally announced at the Raise the Woof event in May, and Jill Jacobsen announced them at Monday's ceremony. By contrast, earlier indianola-ia.com coverage described two anonymous $500,000 gifts toward the project. Separately, the Orrie Koehlmoos Trust gave $35,000 to the project, according to indianola-ia.com. Peoples Bank also supported the project, per indianola-ia.com.
What the New Shelter Will Look Like
Plans for the new building call for 60 cat kennels divided among three rooms, including a nursery, and 57 dog kennels split between boarding and shelter animals, with six kennels able to flex between the two uses, according to indianola-ia.com. The facility is also expected to include an adoption room, offices, a dog-washing area, food preparation and laundry space, and an isolation room for sick animals, with an HVAC system designed to exhaust indoor air and bring in fresh air throughout. About half of the new facility will be dedicated to revenue-generating activities including boarding, indianola-ia.com reports. Staff are excited for the move. Earlier indianola-ia.com reporting similarly described plans for boarding and obedience classes, along with the possibility of a public dog park available through membership, and noted that Kiya Koda intends to sell its current building and grounds at 1206 N. Jefferson Way once the new facility opens.
Kamie Haynes, co-chair of the fundraising committee, and Justin Brown, an advisor on the project representing Downing Construction, both took part in Monday's ceremony. Brown said heavy equipment was already moving dirt at the groundbreaking, and Downing Construction — working alongside project manager Tyler Christowski — has provided expert advice throughout the facility's design process, according to indianola-ia.com. indianola-ia.com reports the new building should go vertical by Christmas 2026 and is expected to be move-in ready by May 2027.
Not the Only Shelter Expansion in the Region
Kiya Koda's push for a larger home echoes efforts elsewhere in Iowa, where aging shelters have struggled to keep pace with demand. The Cedar Valley Humane Society announced plans to begin construction on a new adoption facility as part of a broader expansion, according to KCRG. For Kiya Koda, Monday's ceremony represented the culmination of years of fundraising and planning aimed at finally giving Indianola's homeless pets — and the volunteers who care for them — room to grow.
