EWA, Hawaii (KHON2) — The Hawaiian Humane Society is expanding.

A new $30 million West Oahu Campus is scheduled to open in March, 2023 but KHON2 got a preview to see how things look.

The Humane Society said the Ewa campus on the corner of Fort Weaver and Old Fort Weaver roads took over a decade of planning.

The president and CEO said the Moiliili location has too many barriers since 60% of West Oahu residents own pets.

“Whether it’s the commute time, they don’t have a car, right? Or they can’t get time off of work. So, there’s a lot of barriers just to be able to access our services And so having two locations that kind of split the island, we’ll be able to better serve the community and the animals that need us,” Anna Neubauer said.

The West Oahu campus sits on five acres of land — much larger than the two acres in Moiliili. There will be a one-acre dog park at the West Oahu location, officials said the facilities will be a huge step forward for animal welfare on Oahu.

“And so being able to access resources like a spay/neuter center, just so animals can have the basics of being spayed or neutered, having vaccinations, being able to microchip their pet,” Neubauer said.

Their open-air adoption lanai is centrally located and flanked by two cat pavilions, three dog pavilions and an exotics pavilion in the middle. There will also be a classroom for educating the public and community outreach programs.

Each kennel for the dogs has its own drain to prevent the spread of disease and cat rooms have solar tubes — fancy skylights — to help keep stress levels down.

The total capacity will be between 150 to 400 animals and officials said it is not the pound.

“And so we wanted that reflected in our physical space, and we had that opportunity to do that with this campus, so we really hope that people can kind of see and feel that coming here, they feel good coming here and they really want to spend time with us.”

Anna Neubauer, Hawaiian Humane Society president & CEO

City councilmember Augie Tulba said he can not wait for the grand opening.

“It has that warm feeling and yet that, that plantation look too, you know, when you walk in,” Tulba said. “But I also wanna make sure that people are educated, that we have a responsibility with our animals. And this will not only be that kind of place, but like yeah, also teach and educate that, you know, this is a long-term thing!”

“We’re about 90% complete now and we anticipate opening in March,” Neubauer said.