Some Lexington officers need a new home base. City starts work on police K9 facility.

Construction began Monday on a new facility for Lexington’s cramped police canine unit.

The facility is being built on city-owned land near Old Frankfort Pike and Alexandria Drive. The 3,800 square-foot building will have 20 individual kennels “designed to decrease visual contact between the dogs because visual stimulus can sometimes lead to excessive activity and injuries,” the city said in a release.

The current kennel at 1313 Old Frankfort Pike was built in 1968 and has space for 12 dogs. The dogs can sniff out drugs, explosives and suspects.

“The Lexington police canine unit was the first of its kind in Kentucky, and our current facility is showing its age,” Lexington police Chief Lawrence Weathers said in a written press release. “In recent years, we’ve had to rely on space heaters in the winter to keep the dogs’ water bowls from freezing. The new facility will be less stressful for the dogs and hopefully extend their length of service.”

More room for offices, veterinary care and food storage will be in the new building..

Lexington’s canine unit responded to 800 incidents last year; 66 percent of them involved narcotics, the police department said in a release.

Funds for the new facility were budgeted by the Urban County Council over the past two fiscal years.

This story was originally published January 28, 2019 at 1:50 PM.