Gateway Animal Clinic, a Tremont pet hospital  that is known for accepting four-legged patients regardless of their owners' ability to pay, has relocated to a new, larger facility across the street from its original Abbey Road location.

Gateway's old home was torn down this year to make way for the Innerbelt bridge project, which is now under construction. Although Dr. Brian Forsgren, who founded the clinic 12 years ago, scoured the city for prime real estate, he ultimately decided to move across the street.

"He felt very strongly about staying in the neighborhood, so we made it work," says architect Bob Vayda, who designed the new facility at 1819 Abbey Road.

The new building is twice as large as the old one, says Vayda, and can better accommodate the clinic's growth and the needs of the neighborhood. "They'd outgrown the old building years ago," he says. The new facility, which Vayda describes as "the old building on steroids," is about 8,000 square feet.

The clinic's new location presented an interesting set of design challenges, says Vayda. For one thing, the site is largely fill dirt, which means that it had to be regraded and stabilized before a structure could be built on it.

"Back when Cleveland had street sweepers, the city apparently dumped all of its crud on that lot," he says. "When we excavated, we found evidence of old buildings with dirt floors."

Now that the move is finally complete, Gateway's staff is thrilled. "There's more room to move around, and they can see more patients," says Vayda.

Source: Bob Vayda
Writer: Lee Chilcote