Small dogs visiting Iola’s dog park when it opens soon may suffer a few fits of anxiety. DOUG CLARK, Todd Rowe and Tom Nevans installed gates Wednesday afternoon on fencing that encloses the dog park, with overall dimensions of 130 feet east and west and 180 feet north and south. THE ONLY structure in the park to date is one that drew quizzical looks from passersby early on.
Squarely in the middle of a 90-by-48-foot pen reserved for small canines is a pecan tree, with an ample supply of nuts that has drawn the attention of squirrels in the neighborhood.
Squirrels cavorting about and dining overhead will captivate the attention of dogs come to exercise, particularly with smaller ones usually being a more rambunctious lot.
The park is along the west side of Chestnut Street between Rock and Irwin streets.
“We still have bag dispensers to put up,” said Berkley Kerr, parks superintendent.
The dispensers provided by Walmart are used in the store’s grocery section for purchase of produce.
“We’ll modify them a little bit for bags to hold” … well everyone knows what has to be cleaned up when a dog exercises, Kerr observed.
The only other things of consequence that will be added before the park opens in two or three weeks are signs telling users pertinent information, including that dogs of 30 pounds or less are to use the smaller pen, where the pecan tree stands tall and inviting. That enclosure is 90 by 48 feet.
Assistant City Administrator Cory Schinstock figures about $16,000 has been spent so far on the park, including about $5,000 on the city’s side for labor and equipment. The remaining $11,000 has gone for materials, including the fencing.
The Dog Park Committee and Thrive Allen County raised $10,000, a prerequisite for the city to approve its construction and provide matching funding of up to $10,000.
“Signage will cost $500 to $600,” Schinstock added.
It is an elongated mound with wooden retainers on either side that makes it resemble a hump-back bridge. A short tunnel under the mound is expected to be a favorite play area for feisty dogs.
A grant — Thrive’s John Robertson wrote the application — is pending from the Nutro Co., a pet food manufacturer in Franklin, Tenn. The grant would be in the form of a credit, with $2,000 being the maximum award, Schinstock said.
He added Iola’s Sonic Equipment Co. sponsored a contest among local school children to name the park, with Happy Tails Dog Park the winner.
“The kid who came up that name will be honored at a grand opening in the spring,” Schinstock said. “Sonic (representatives) said they would have hot-dogs and other treats at the event.”
Dog park opening coming soon
