The City of West Memphis and Southland Casino Hotel last week celebrated the opening of the new $2.3 million Carolyn and Ness Securest Animal Shelter & Adoption Center, a modern and spacious facility providing a safe and comfortable place for dogs and cats while they await their forever homes.
Southland and parent company Delaware North contributed $1.7 million toward the construction of the animal shelter at the site of the former Mid-South Greyhound Adoption Center at 1800 Southland Drive behind the casino in West Memphis.
The City of West Memphis, members of the community, and the Arkansas Greyhound Kennel Association, in collaboration with Southland, also contributed to the project.
The new facility is named in honor of the late Ness Sechrest, chairman emeritus of the Southland board of directors, and his wife, the late Carolyn Sechrest, a former member of the city’s animal control commission.
For several years, the Sechrests pushed for funding of a new shelter to replace the city’s more limited older facility. After the conclusion of live racing at Southland in 2022 and the adoption of all remaining greyhounds, Delaware North’s Jacobs family and the Southland board of directors agreed the former adoption facility would serve as an ideal location for a new and improved city animal shelter.
The new shelter includes a new structure and the renovated adoption facility.
To mark the opening, Southland Casino Hotel, Delaware North and West Memphis officials, joined by members of the Sechrest family, participated in a ceremonial ribbon cutting before touring the new facility. Carolyn and Ness Sechrest attended the facility’s groundbreaking ceremony in early 2024, but unfortunately both have passed away since.
“Ness and Carolyn Sechrest brought such passion and commitment to the community and worked tirelessly to bring this new shelter from vision to reality,” Delaware North CEO Lou Jacobs said, noting that Ness Sechrest was a trusted adviser on Southland to his father, Delaware North Chairman Jeremy Jacobs, over several decades.
“I know Ness would be so proud of what we’ve done together for the community in this public-private partnership between West Memphis and Southland,” Jacobs said.
The new shelter is significantly larger than the previous facility and features modern amenities, including capacity for 48 dogs and 40 cats with significant additional capability in the case of an emergency or disaster, as well as spaces to quarantine both cats and dogs that might have illnesses.
“This is a great day for West Memphis, and I’m proud of what a strong partnership has built together,” West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon said. “This new animal shelter has been needed for a long time, and thanks to our partners at Southland Casino Hotel and Delaware North, we now have a first-class facility to better care for animals in our community.
The new animal shelter is the latest example of Southland’s extensive support of West Memphis and the region.
“On behalf of our more than 1,200 team members at Southland Casino Hotel, we are grateful to play an important part in the rise of West Memphis and celebrate a new chapter of care, compassion and community with this new facility,” said Osi Imomoh, president and general manager of Southland Casino Hotel.
