Milford’s New Dog Park Nears Opening

The small dog playground at the Milford Dog Park, located next to where the big dogs will roam, eagerly awaits its canine companions. City officials hope to open the park by Nov. 1.MIKE FINNEY PHOTOThe small dog playground at the Milford Dog Park, located next to where the big dogs will roam, eagerly awaits its canine companions. City officials hope to open the park by Nov. 1.

This place is for the dogs. And their owners, too.

The Milford Dog Park, between Fisher Avenue and Marshall Street near the east end of the Riverwalk, scheduled to open by Nov. 1.

By Mike Finney

This place is for the dogs. And their owners, too.
The Milford Dog Park, between Fisher Avenue and Marshall Street near the east end of the Riverwalk, scheduled to open by Nov. 1.

The dog park is actually two parks in one, with a place for small dogs to play on the north of a fenced-in area, and room for the larger dogs to roam on the south.

“It’s state of the art,” said Gary Emory, Milford’s director of parks and recreation. “The dog park will have all of the modern advances that dogs and their owners will be comfortable with.”
The park will feature water fountains for dogs and their owners, shaded seating and picnic tables. Plus, the dog park will have easy access to the Riverwalk.

“The rules are posted and, hopefully, everybody will abide by them,” Emory said.
Milford City Manager Richard Carmean said the Milford Dog Park was approved by city council about 18 months ago and cost nearly $20,000 to construct.

The site of the dog park is in an area where a bus terminal used to stand.
“We had the land and most of the fencing,” Carmean said. “The guys who had the buses there paid for the fencing. The big expense was the sod. Basically, if we’d have tried to seed it, we’d have never, ever gotten it to look like anything or to hold up for anything.”

Emory said he hopes the dog park will be used by local residents, as well as encourage visitors who are interested in ecotourism to visit the walking trails in Milford.

The dog park is close to the Chaney-Wilmont Greenway, between Vinyard Shipyard and Goat Island, which the city hopes will eventually include a visitor and nature center off Marshall Street.

Milford resident Mary Skiba was walking her dog, Tritan, on the trails last Thursday. She said Tritan has a nice big yard to run in and another dog to play with, so he probably won’t take advantage of the park very often. However, she did say she think it’s a good idea.

“It’s a nice area, it’s nice that the city is doing something like this,” she said. “There are a lot of dogs around here that will take advantage of it.”

Emory said he has a feeling the Milford Dog Park will be a popular spot soon enough.
“When we were constructing it people were like, ‘When is it opening, when is it opening,’” he said. “It took about two months to construct.”

Read more: http://www.milfordbeacon.com/article/20141023/News/141029908#ixzz3HIbqvec5

Retrieved from The Milford Beacon on Sunday, October 26