Guide Dogs for the Blind’s Oregon campus will break ground on $28 million expansion

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — For the first time since its debut 30 years ago, Guide Dogs for the Blind’s Oregon campus will see a major expansion.

The world-renowned guide dog school reported last week that it will build a 30,000-square-foot “client residence and community hub” at its facility in Boring starting this summer. According to the announcement, this move will allow the nonprofit to double its capacity to serve local clients.

GDB currently has two locations in the U.S. It moved to its current California facility in San Rafael in 1947. The organization opened its 28-acre Oregon campus decades later in the Fall of 1995, after an increase in demand for its services.

The upcoming addition to the campus is described as the “first of its kind in North America.” The new complex will be an indoor-outdoor structure with private suites for clients, an information center, sensory gardens, more dog training areas and events spaces.

“This state-of-the-art expansion will not only help us substantially expand our capacity to train and support more clients each year, but it will also create a vibrant, centralized space where individuals can connect, collaborate, and build lasting relationships,” GDB President and CEO Christine Benninger said in a statement. “And we are thrilled to be launching our public campaign to support it, which allows our donors to play a pivotal role in bringing this cutting-edge project to life.”

California-based architecture firm Studio Miers |Chou |Poon is behind the project. The school noted Chris Downey, one member of the design team, will bring an “inclusive perspective” as he is blind himself. GDP also reported that its clients joined focus groups to help plan the expansion, which will cost million.

The organization’s Building Brighter Futures campaign aims to fund the project. The fundraiser has garnered million thus far.