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Rimbey vet moving

For 45 years, Rimbey Veterinary Clinic has been treating animals on the town’s main street at 4605 50th Ave.
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Garrett Reaugh carries insulated concrete forms for a building being constructed for Rimbey Veterinary Clinic by Brix Construction Inc. The longtime Rimbey business expects to relocate from its current premises next door early next summer.

For 45 years, Rimbey Veterinary Clinic has been treating animals on the town’s main street at 4605 50th Ave.

That will change next year, when the longtime business relocates — to 4607 50th Ave.

Work is underway on a new building adjacent to the clinic’s current premises. Owner Ian Giebelhaus, who has practised there since 1994, said the new site is being subdivided from the same lot.

“It won’t be a very long move. We’ll be able to pick up and carry things over, hopefully on a weekend in the early summer.”

The new building will consist of 5,400 square feet on its main floor and another 3,500 square feet on its second level. That will increase the usable space that Rimbey Veterinary Clinic has for its operations, but more importantly will improve working conditions.

“The newest additions to this building are 35 years old,” said Giebelhaus. “We think the building was built in the early to mid ‘50s. It was certainly built before the age of insulation and things like that.”

When the clinic’s practice was predominantly large animals, this wasn’t a big issue. But its patient mix has expanded to include more small animals.

Almost as old as the building is the clinic itself, which dates back to 1964.

“It’s one of a handful of veterinary clinics that have been open continuously for that long,” said Giebelhaus.

A new building, he said, should help sustain the practice for many more years by appealing to the next generation of vets.

“Rural towns struggle with trying to attract dentists and trying to attract doctors and they struggle with trying to attract and retain veterinarians as well.”

Giebelhaus’s current partner in the business is Grady Barton, who has been involved for three years.

After the clinic moves, the old building will be torn down — hopefully to make way for a new business.

“It’d be a fantastic place for a Tim Hortons,” pitched Giebelhaus.

hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com