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No Dogs Allowed

No Dogs Allowed

Puppies not welcome at Homewood’s Patriot Park.

March 03, 2011

Since 2009, Bark for a Park(www.barkforapark.org), a local nonprofit group that advocates fenced-in parks where dogs are allowed to run without leashes, has been trying to secure an area for a dog park in Homewood. The organization was instrumental in opening a similar park in Birmingham in October 2009 at George Ward Park on Green Springs Highway. Another facility opened in Hoover in 2010 at 3437 Loch Haven Drive, thanks to Bark for a Park’s efforts. The desired location is Patriot Park in the west Homewood area, but the organization appears to be running into roadblocks from the facilities committee, which falls under the auspices of the Homewood Parks and Recreation Department.

A February 22 town hall meeting at the Homewood Public Library drew approximately 30 people seeking an update from Bark for a Park board member Erik Henninger. The group had two facility designs for Patriot Park on display at the meeting, including separate areas for large and small dogs, respectively. However, two days later at its February 24 meeting, the facilities committee rejected any notions of a dog park at Patriot Park. Lack of adequate parking and the possible future expansion of the Homewood Senior Center adjacent to Patriot Park were the primary reasons cited for refusing to designate a dog park there. Bark for a Park will continue to pursue the issue, however.

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Illustration courtesy Bark for a Park. (click for larger version)

 

“We’ve got plans that include more parking,” explains Henninger. “In the rare case that the Senior Center does expand in that direction—which, if you look at the site plans doesn’t make any sense, as there are other obvious options for them to expand—we would be out there helping to pull up the [dog park] fence,” he said. “The bone that they threw us is in West Homewood Park, which is probably half the size of what we were looking at. But there’s not much point in doing a half-acre park.” (The total proposed area in West Homewood would be one acre, with only half an acre each for large and small dogs, respectively.) “So it appears that they came to the meeting saying no to Patriot Park . . . Even though they did not say they were against a dog park, they weren’t helping us move in the right direction. They were just being obstructionist, is how I felt.”

The dog park in Birmingham is two-and-a-half acres, which is the approximate size of the area proposed for the Patriot Park facility. Henninger added, “The reason Patriot Park is such a good space is because it’s got not only a hill but is also secluded from the other two-thirds of the park by a ditch.” The Homewood Parks and Recreation Board will meet on Thursday, March 3, at 5:30 p.m. at the Homewood Recreation Center. Henninger urges all who want a dog park in Homewood to appear to show support. &