WESTBROOK — The city’s first dog park is now open after months of delays.
The dog park, which was constructed over a year ago, officially opened on May 3. The small, fenced-in area is located in Bicentennial Park next to the Hannaford grocery store off of William Clarke Drive.
The city released a press release the day of the park opening saying that Mayor Mike Sanphy “asked that the existing area be open to the public.” City Administrator Jerre Bryant on May 10 said the city wanted to open the park because it was already constructed.
“We decided to at least open what we have now to the public,” he said.
The project had been on hold because the city was considering a new design and expansion of the park. The City Council in September had considered an expansion of the existing area, but the measure was defeated because councilors didn’t like the design. The expansion would have added a larger fence to form an L-shape around the existing fence, created separate spaces for large and small dogs, and added trash bins, benches and landscaping.
A trash bin and signage were added to the dog park before it opened last week.
The park, which is 4,500 square feet, or 50 feet by 90 feet, received criticism from residents last year because of its size.
“It is what it is,” Bryant said. “If we decide to move forward with something bigger, then we’ll do that.”
The City Council in September said it would be considering other designs despite members of the public saying they favored the expansion plan. Bryant on Wednesday said no new designs have been looked at yet, but he expects that may happen in the future.
“I don’t anticipate this is the final project,” he said.
Bryant said despite the opposition to the small park, the city has received a lot of inquiries about why it couldn’t be used. He said there was no reason it couldn’t be opened now.
Originally there were plans to create a committee to look at design plans for a larger dog park, but nothing is in the works right now, Bryant said.
Kate Gardner can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 125 or kgardner@theforecaster.net. Follow her on Twitter: @katevgardner.
The Westbrook Dog Park officially opened for public use on May 3.
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