BANGOR, Maine — Thanks to efforts of some dedicated canine lovers, a proposed Bangor dog park may have found a good home.
Bangor’s first dog park took a major step toward historic reality Tuesday as project representatives briefed supportive Bangor City Councilors on the blueprint and location for Bangor’s first-ever dog park.
After initially focusing on “the roundhouse” land parcel at the end of Dutton Street and behind Hollywood Casino and Geaghan’s Restaurant and Pub, city staff members and park project members settled on Essex Woods off Essex Street.
“Originally we identified the roundhouse spot, but it became clear that it’s more a development piece that can be sold, so we altered our focus,” said Tracy Willette, Bangor Parks and Recreation Department Director.
Ironically, what could have been a hindrance for the project became a help.
“I think this has been in the works since late 2009. I only came on about six months ago,” said Chris Nill, the 12-member dog park group’s communications liaison. “Once we moved to Essex Street Woods, it got the ball rolling, and now it’s going a lot faster.”
Nill said the park will be divided into three separated parks.
“There will be a large one which will encompass most of the forest to the left of the PAL building and alongside one of the main hiking trails,” Nill explained. “There will also be a smaller park for smaller dogs where the old ice skating rink used to be near the front of the PAL building.”
The park will be open year-round and privately funded by donors. Park project members will provide regular maintenance and upkeep, including the provision of trash cans and benches.
“The model for this is a lot like the one we had years ago with the skate park and the Paul Bunyan restoration with those who have a particular interest in a project,” said Willette. “In this case, they’ll be fundraising and working with us to establish rules and guidelines as well as helping us to administer and maintain the park.”
The city will likely handle grading work on the grounds and possibly remove some trees due to overgrowth.
So far, there have been few complications beyond the park’s location switch.
“There was one concern with part of the training yard impeding one of the trails and we don’t want to impede anything, so we gave the committee three options to locate it elsewhere,” said Nill.
Nill’s wife Megan said the group has invited input from and actively involved the public.
“As of this afternoon, we have 509 ‘likes’ on our Facebook page, and we have around 100 or so email addresses for people who want to be involved or notified,” said Megan Nill. “And not all of them, or even everyone in our group owns a dog.”
The park is envisioned as a safe place for dogs to play and enjoy leash-free time with their owners and other dogs.
She said the group will even hold a public meeting so anyone from Bangor and surrounding towns can weigh in on and find out more about the park.
Anyone wishing to contact park project representatives, join the effort, or find out information can call the Bangor Parks and Recreation Department at 992-4490, email them at BgrDogPark@gmail.com, visit the group’s site online BangorDogPark.org, or find Bangor Dog Park on Facebook.
what a great idea anything for animals is good.. a place to walk and exercise them for people in the city is sometimes hard with limited space this should help alot
Not everyone knows what “PAL” means.
Police Athletic League. Yep, that used to be the spot for training and mentoring sometimes troubled youth.
Looks like they already changed their sign:
http://www.bangorbytes.com/2012/02/bangor-dog-parks-new-location-pal.html
Seems like a good spot. Now how about the City own up to the commitment that it made to area youth several years ago and rebuild the Skate Park that they tore down to build the auditorium.
There is so much more potential at Essex st hill then a dog park we can already walk out dogs there now and no one uses a leash there very often anyway… so what would change having a dog park ?a fence? I don’t want fences up there .. I agree with bangorian give it back to the kids put a toe rope in for winter there can be a snow park and it could be huge for the community skiing snow boarding you could make beginner trails all over that place . Mountain bike bmx in the summer .plus we can have the skatepark and RC Track like back in the day… go out behind BMHI or some place where there isn’t anything better to put there then a dog park…
They have a place to ski and snowboard Hermon Mt.
What’s that on your shoe? Oh . . . .
It would be better if it had a small pond for swimming and a sand hill for digging. But at least the dogs will have a place to romp.
But a dog park is only as good as the users, so I hope that rules will be put in place and enforced. And as a side note, it should NOT be a place to bring your little kids. Dog/Dog interactions involve a lot of jumping, running, bitey face, and more, and little kids often get bowled over by overly exuberant animals.
This is a ‘leg up” for the dog park. The proposal to use the old Roundhouse property was a whole lot of pooh. It would have been the equivalent of pxsxixg away that property. Now it will be used for waterfront development. Dog owners and their best pals will have a much better “spot” to roam. Everyone wins.
Glad its coming to fruition… though its too bad its out on the edge of town. Don’t you think its kind of ironic to drive their dog somewhere so it can walk?