Donations Needed To Get Dog Park Back In Shape
When you have a neighborhood with as many dogs as the North Loop and just one fenced-in area for them to play in, it’s guaranteed to face some wear and tear. And the heavily-used park at North 3rd Street and 8th Avenue is literally bursting at the seams.
“The problem is, this dog park gets too much love,” said North Loop Neighborhood Association board member Andrew Morse. “The issue is that because of all the activity, the gravel is getting pushed out to the sides and that’s pushing the fence down.”
“The dogs run around in the dog park, they kick the gravel up against the fence,” said NLNA board member David Crary. “And then with the freeze and thaw of the winters, that expands, contracts and pops out the fences.”
The NLNA has just started a fundraising drive so we can repair the fencing and get the gravel back to where it should be.
“It costs a lot of money,” said Andrew. “We got a bid that’s a little under $10,000 and that’s for basic rehabilitation.”
“Unfortunately, the North Loop Neighborhood Association doesn’t have a pocket full of money,” added David. “We’re a volunteer organization and we have to make things work on a very limited budget.”
For those who don’t know, this is not a public park. It’s land owned (and generously provided to us) by Schafer Richardson commercial real estate. The NLNA agreed to look after the upkeep. We can’t let it keep deteriorating.
We hope that dog owners who use the park regularly will chip in at the donation page here on our website. We’re also giving local businesses a chance to sponsor banners that we’ll attach to the park’s fence. We would like to begin making the necessary repairs this year.
By Mike Binkley, North Loop volunteer
Andrew and David measuring the fence where future banners will go