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Construction of dog park set to begin at Boardman Park
BOARDMAN
Visitors to Boardman Park soon will see land moving near the Southern Boulevard entrance in preparation for construction of the township’s first dog park, Paws Town.
Park commissioners have reviewed the site plan, and Paws Town will take up about three acres, said Daniel Slagle, park executive director.
Friends of Paws Town, a nonprofit organization that raises money for the dog park, recently was awarded a $5,000 grant from the PetCo Foundation and a $5,000 grant from the J. Ford Crandall Memorial Foundation, said Jason Loree, one of the organization’s founders. Loree also is township administrator.
“I would say people will see movement of physical land in two or three weeks and then a ribbon-cutting event,” Loree said.
The nonprofit group has raised about $30,000 of its $50,000 goal for funding Paws Town. Much of that has come from fundraising events, such as Pooch Playtime at PetCo on U.S. Route 224 next to Boardman Park.
Slagle said nonprofit groups such as Friends of Paws Town have a long history of contributing to the park.
The process is similar to Kids’ Town and Tots Town playgrounds, which were built without using taxpayer funds, he said.
Nonprofit organizations formed to solicit donations, gather volunteers and build the structures, and then they turned the projects over to the park to maintain, Slagle added.
“I think Paws Town will be a great asset,” Slagle said. “I’m sure all the people walking their dogs now will be using Paws Town at some point.”
The architectural drawings for the dog park and other information are available at PawsTown.org.