BILLINGS- A next-generation veterinary clinic is the latest business set to open in the BIRD district in downtown Billings.
Dr. Edie Best envisions a modern and inviting space complete with plush furnishings and elegant lighting on a prominent corner lot along First Avenue North.
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While the space is currently a dirt lot, construction is underway, and in about nine months, it’s expected to become the newest addition to the fast-growing neighborhood.
Inside the current Billings Animal Family Hospital on North 27th Street, space is limited.
“We currently have three exam rooms, and they are pretty small rooms,” Best said. “Little narrow hallways... two people can’t walk through the hallways together.”
The constraints have made everyday tasks a challenge.
“One treatment table, so it’s like a runway,” she added. “I always tell people — if we need to do a toenail trim or draw blood, I’m like, ‘Hold here, please. I’m going to go check and see what’s happening on the runway.’”
Just a few blocks away, the future clinic offers room to grow. Bright yellow construction vehicles now line the lot 1616 First Ave. N, in the heart of the Billings Industrial Revitalization District, known as the BIRD.
“I wanted to stay downtown. That was important to me,” Best said.
Their current North 27th Street location has served the community for decades, but Best said the time has come for an upgrade.
“Probably for ten-plus years, I had been looking at properties, and just nothing felt right,” she said.
That changed when the right space opened.
Construction crews have already begun removing asphalt and tearing down light poles, according to Best.
The project is also getting public support.
In November, the Billings City Council approved $475,000 in tax-increment financing for the new clinic as part of a broader effort to revitalize the area and improve infrastructure.
For Best, the new building is more than just additional square footage.
“I have this vision of providing sort of like the human surgery center—where people can sit in a comfortable environment and wait for their pet, if they want to, and have more accessibility,” she said.
It’s a fresh take on veterinary care in a part of town focused on renewal and growth.
“I’m super excited about it,” Best said. “My patients deserve it. My clients deserve it. My team deserves it—they’ve been working in these cramped little walls a long time too.”
“I’ve been dreaming about something like this."
