A rendering showing the general layout of the dog park expansion. File image

WESTBROOK — Work to more than triple the size of the city’s dog park is expected to begin next spring.

A 15,300-square-foot addition to the existing 4,500-square-foot site at the corner of William Clarke and Hannaford drives, which opened in 2017 after a year of delays, was initially planned for shortly after it’s debut, but the expansion got sidetracked and then scrapped in favor of other priorities, Mayor Mike Foley said.

When the time came for us to go back to our original expansion plan, other projects came and COVID-19 hit. A lot of our time got diverted to work on Vertical Harvest, in addition to the challenges with the four-season rink so it got delayed,” Foley said.

The Westbrook Dog Park officially opened on May 3, 2017, but quickly drew complaints for being too small. File photo

Over the winter the city will work on the new dog park layout, City Project Manager Robyn Saunders said.

“Some of the issues with the area could cost a lot of time and money and we want this to be achievable,” Saunders said, noting wetlands interfere with some of the original expansion’s layout.

So far there is no budget for the project, and cost estimates will come after survey work.

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“At this point, this is majorly a volunteer-effort driven project and we are looking for funding and people to step in,” Saunders said. “This design is simple yet elegant, but we also want something we can achieve.”

The expansion would wrap around the existing dog park in an L shape. The smaller park will be for small dogs.

The thing to remember with any dog park is that it’s really balancing interests,” Saunders said. “It’s not just finding the money, but making sure we have what we need to maintain it. For example, if the dogs pee on the grass too much it will burn the grass and it will become an erosion issue, so we want to do the layout thoughtfully and mindfully. We will need to do some public education, too.”

Some residents unhappy with the small park had drawn up their own expansion plans, a city review of those suggestions derailed the project until 2019. Those proposals, which called for, among other things, fresh water sources that would have required water line extensions and a lit gazebo, were too complex and expensive, Foley said.

The city’s expansion includes benches for dog owners and play obstacles for dogs, which were built and donated by Boy Scout Ethan Judd, 13, of Steep Falls for his Eagle Scout project.

“I chose the dog park because I love dogs. I felt it was run down,” Judd said. “I wanted to help it out so I got donations from Hammond Lumber and Hillside Lumber and got donations. Then I got together and we built it. I am very excited to get this park up and running.”  

 

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