Billy Mitchell is putting the finishing touches on three doghouses he began building on a whim last week at the BrookhavenAnimal Rescue League’s new facility site.

Mitchell, who is construction manager of BARL’s new facility,said he decided to build the dog houses while waiting on workers toerect the metal building for the new animal shelter.

The dog houses are scaled-down replicas of city structures. Achurch, beach house and general store make up what Mitchell hascoined “Dog Town.”

Since BARL is strictly a no-kill facility, some dogs have beenat the shelter for a long time, Mitchell said, and he wanted tomake their stay more comfortable.

He began his search for dog house plans on the Internet.

When he wasn’t satisfied with what he found, he searched forchildren’s playhouse plans. He was astonished by the number anddistinctiveness of the plans, so he modified those to suit hisneeds.

“When I’m finished they will have steps, and I left coveredporches on all of the fronts because dogs like to lie around in theshade,” he said.

He also built the structures above the ground so the dogs canlie underneath them in the summertime to keep cool.

Mitchell, a retired physicist who worked for NASA and theDepartment of Energy at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in NewOrleans, now devotes much of his time to assisting with BARL’soperations.

He and his wife Kathy split their time between their homes inOrange Beach, Ala. and Brookhaven.

They normally spend the winters in Brookhaven where theyvolunteer full time with BARL feeding, medicating and cleaning theanimals and maintaining the kennels. However, this summer Mitchellis overseeing the new facility’s construction, requiring the coupleto spend most of the year in Mississippi.

Mitchell said he hopes the new building will be up in about 30days. At least two months of work will be required thereafter tocomplete the interior.

“Our major wishes for this facility were to get our dogs out ofthe mud where their pens are kept now and board our cats to avoidthat expense,” he said.

The cats, which are currently boarded in small cages at areaveterinarians’ offices for a fee, will be housed in a large roomfree of cages. They will also be allowed to enter at will aconnected screened patio area outside.

Mitchell said he wanted to implement a “cat room” because mostpeople allow their cats to roam freely indoors and felt they shouldbe able to do so at the shelter.

The shelter will be capable of housing 40-50 dogs and 30-40cats.

“This facility is not going to be able to accommodate much morethan we have now, in terms of numbers of animals, but it will be acleaner facility and we will be able to provide them with bettercare and make them more presentable to those who come to adopt,”Mitchell said.

The building will include 25 dog runs, which will be capable ofhousing two dogs per pen, and allow them indoor and outdooraccess.

Mitchell designed the interior of the facility and the concretefoundation. The foundation was intricately designed at differentslopes to allow water and waste to drain into pipes that will emptyinto the city sewage system.

The facility’s location was “two or three feet” lower than itspresent elevation and was “like a swamp,” he said. Beforeconstruction began, the area had to be filled with dirt to preventthe accumulation of water and mud.

He said plans for landscaping, visitor areas and otherimprovements will develop in the future as funds becomeavailable.

Mitchell began constructing the dog houses last Wednesday and isclose to completion. He wants to add some ornamentation, like woodcarvings and sculptures and loud-colored trim on the beach houseand a “Dog Town General Store” sign on that structure, he said.

“I could frame up a whole house in the time I’ve messed aroundwith these things,” he said.

His wife is helping apply white primer, the last step in theprocess.

Copiah-Lincoln Community College art department students haveplanned to paint the houses soon, adding windows, murals andanything else they see fit, he said.

The dog houses will be designated for the older dogs, and eachstructure will be enclosed by a chain-link fence.

The fenced areas will be large enough to afford the dogs spaceto run and play, Mitchell said. Four or five dogs will be kept ineach of the three areas.

Mitchell said he thinks the future addition of a fire stationand school will help complete “Dog Town,” and hopes others willextend their labor and creativity with the project.