The Humane Society of Freeborn County will host an open house for the public to see the progress on its new building addition.

The expansion effort has come with ups and downs, but the finish line is within sight.

The open house is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Humane Society, 101 James Ave., near Frank Hall Park.

Refreshments will be served at the open house. A membership drive will be conducted at the same time. Memberships are $20 per year per person, $100 per year for a business, $40 per year for a family and $500 for a lifetime membership.

The project has been several years in the making, and a groundbreaking was held June 23, 2011.

The 40-by-40-foot addition was constructed by Welker Custom Homes Inc. of Owatonna for $216,000. The addition doubles the size of the current building and provides much-needed space for the animals there.

Plans for the building were in limbo for at least a year after former Freeborn County Commissioner Linda Tuttle was found to have taken money from her company’s escrow accounts — including a $150,000 grant given to the Humane Society for the addition — and ultimately gambled it away. The organization, with the help of the community, worked diligently during the last year and a half to recoup that money through donations.