The Indianapolis-based FACE spay and neuter clinic is gearing up for a big downtown expansion.

FACE, or the Foundation Against Companion-Animal Euthanasia, broke ground Tuesday morning on a $3 million, 7,000 square-foot facility adjacent to its current clinic at 1501 Massachusetts Ave. The two facilities eventually will be merged to double the existing space.

The clinic also announced a $3.6 million fundraising initiative to support the project, which will be funded mostly by private donations. It is already about 65 percent to its goal, with major gifts from the Joanie Bernard Foundation, the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and Lilly Endowment Inc.

The expansion will help FACE, which was founded in 1999, maintain its “no-kill” status, said Ellen Robinson, executive director. It will double the spay and neuter surgery space and better accommodate the medical care programs.

Robinson said the impetus for the new facility came in 2012 when it merged with Indy Feral to form a community cat program. It expanded again in 2013 to offer more low-cost medical services through its clinic.

“It became apparent we needed larger spaces to better accommodate the Indianapolis community,” Robinson told IBJ. “Everything we do centers around spay and neuter, but you also have to offer wellness care to keep the existing population healthy."

The clinic was founded to help decrease the stray animal population through sterilization. About 22,000 dogs and cats were euthanized each year in Indianapolis when FACE was established 17 years ago.

Comparatively, Indianapolis Animal Care and Control euthanized 2,387 dogs and cats last year. Several other organizations also offer spay and neuter services in the city.

In 2015, FACE performed 16,220 spay and neuter surgeries and conducted 21,433 visits to its medical and vaccination clinic.

It also last year saved 1,350 cats through the community cat diversion partnership with the city, placed 1,250 dogs and cats in new homes and led the Indy Mega Adoption events, which re-homed 2,000 cats and dogs.