CLINTON — Woodridge, Illinois, roofing contractor Frontline Services began working Wednesday to replace the roof of the building where Midwest Pets For Life is located at 129 South Fourth St., a project for which the animal rescue service was awarded a $30,000 emergency grant from the Clinton County Development Association earlier this year.
“I will be eternally grateful to them,” Midwest Pets owner Sandi Bartels says, “because I didn’t know what we were going to do.”
Water was leaking through in various spots throughout the approximately 7,000-square-foot, 103-year-old building, evident by water-stained ceiling tiles in each of the building’s rooms.
In the small room on the south end of the building where bags of food were kept, water had leaked heavily through the inside of a light fixtures, posing a dangerous fire hazard.
In the warehouse to the building’s rear, sunlight can be seen through a separation at the roof’s center peek. On the other side of the warehouse, roofing supports appear charred black from a fire that occurred at some point in the building’s past.
Bartels had moved her organization into its current location in 2020. Previously, the Charles Alan Salon operated there.
When she bought the building, Bartels says, she did not have the roof inspected because she was told by the seller that it was in good shape at that time.
Then, damaging windstorms made their way through Clinton.
“I mean, the shingles were blowing off and we started having leaks inside,” Bartels says, saying she recalls it “raining down” into the rooms inside.
After the storms, Bartels contacted the insurance company, which sent an adjuster to look at the roof. Bartels says she then received a check from the insurance company for $25,000.
The roofing company had observed the roof as well, and along with grant writer Angie Bloomfield explained to the insurance company that wind had caused the flat rubber membrane on the sides of the roof to come loose.
The insurance company sent another $20,000. Additionally, once the project is completed, Bartels says they’re to send a final $11,000.
The $56,000 to be provided by the insurance company in total, plus a $1,000 deductible paid, still wasn’t enough to cover the approximately $80,000 project.
“That’s almost what we paid for the building,” Bartels says.
She turned to the CCDA, applying for an emergency grant that was awarded this past June along with $450,000 in gaming revenue funding distributed for 11 other projects in the county.
The group of men working from Frontline Services who are performing the roof repair are expected to be finished within the next two weeks. Midwest Pets’s operating hours continue to be normal during the project. Those hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Bartels, just before deciding to try for the emergency grant, says she’d just applied for a grant to upgrade the organization’s computers but was denied. She says they’ll make due for now with what they have.
“We feel once the roof is done,” she says, “we’ll have the world by the tail.”
On Sept. 9, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Midwest Pets will be offering a large donation back to the community in the form of what Bartels calls “hard goods” that were offered to her organization through the Humane Society of the United States.
The goods include crates, ramps, stairs, cages, strollers, cat trees, and other items delivered by truck from pet supply company Chewy, known in part for its generous donations to animal welfare organizations, with the stipulation that it all must be given away to area pet owners and photos taken during the giveaway.
One self-cleaning litter box is going to be donated to the Alverno Senior Care Community, but other items will be available for ten adults to come into the building at a time and choose from with a five-minute time limit.
For more information, Bartels and Midwest Pets For Life can be reached at (563) 219-8024.