Newsbits: Canad rising, dog park dilemma
••Take a drive down 42nd Street and look to the west...the walls are rising out of the ground for the lower floors of the Canad Inns tower. There has been plenty of work going on at the site for the past few months, but this past week saw the first time that any of the visible work was taking place above ground. I wonder when steel will start rising? Also, it looks like the foundation is pretty well in for the waterpark...can't be too long before the walls start to rise for that building too. There are so many piles of dirt and clay around the north side of the Alerus Center.
••Tu-Uyen says that the Lions Park (or whatever you want to call it) location is looking more and more like the spot for the new Grand Forks dog park. Great. You probably already know what I think about this.
Can't the city find a location that isn't right next to houses and apartments and that hasn't already been functioning as a park for years? What about my notion to fund a brand new dog park with some of the pet license fees in Grand Forks? Since the city deems the kind of dog park I'm looking for (one that isn't next to residential developments or isn't already a park) such an expensive undertaking, why not get creative with funding the project? As far as the location, what about Dakota's idea to locate a dog park adjacent to the Humane Society on North Washington? Seems like a good location to me.
If I were on the city council, I would think twice before locating a dog park next to major residential developments and on top of an already existing park. If they build such a facility, they are going to end up with some unhappy voters.
Update - 6/7/2006
I wasn't able to go to it, but a meeting was held on Tuesday about the Lion's Park location...read the Herald story. The article makes it sound like a dog park at the Lion's Park (or whatever you want to call it) location is basically now a sure thing. This has to be one of the oddest statements I've heard in quite a while: "The location is as removed as you can get from residential in the city." That comes from Steve Mullally, Park District superintendent of parks. Removed from residential areas? This is one of the denser parts of town! The area is ringed with apartments and there is a quiet residential neighborhood just northeast of the proposed dog park. One of the residents of that neighborhood, Dan O'Shea, was the only proponent of the dog park to show up at Tuesday's meeting (where was GrandForksGuy when you needed him???). He suggested that a better location for the dog park would be Ulland Park and I couldn't agree more. Ulland Park is not surrounded by homes and apartments and there would be plenty of space for parking. Why not build there? The Herald also has a story about the new Humane Society dog park which will soon be built. Wouldn't it be best for the city to watch how that dog park works and then use what it learns there to work out the kinks and build a much better city-owned dog park sometime down the road?
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5 comments:
How big must a bark park be??
Twice the size of a hockey rink? or more? Hockey rinks seem to appear every fall and don't take up a lot of space.
Why can't numerous fenced in areas be constructed in various parks/areas around town.
Aren't they a place for people to exercise their dogs since they can't do it at home?
Wouldn't it be better to have more small ones throughout the city than one large one?? It would give more people access to them and if they are close enough, parking isn't an issue.
Guy,
I take it you passed your proposal on to the city. Have you heard back? Do you plan on attending tonight's hearing on the Lions' Park site? It's at 7 p.m. at Century Elementary. (I won't be there because I'll be at Eastside council, so your identity is safe! Haha.)
By the way, that Humane Society dog park is still going to happen, regardless of what the city does.
I also agree (again) with the Ulland Park area. The Lions Park area is nice too.
It's not like dog parks are loud nusiances (like the pile-driving currently at UND) or stinky nusiances (like Simplot) or super busy (like Dairy Queen on the first day of summer). Most of the time, like at regular parks, they remain quiet and low key, and traffic picks up on the weekends.
We already know that dog parks work. They work all over the country. We don't need to wait and see how the Humane Society park works. We need to move this issue along. It would be sad to push it to the back burner yet again, and be one of the last communities in the region to become pet-friendly. Let's go for it!
I'm a little surprised that the "dog park issue" is getting as much attention as it is, but then I'm not a dog owner, so nuff said. Speaking of the pile driving at UND for the parking ramp, I see they are driving the piles on the other side of Columbia Road now, are they going to put the proposed ramp on the East side of Columbia road up now? I understood it to go up on the East side of the road at a later date........or are they doing it so they can put up the skywalk now?
parttime,
the piling on the east side is for the walkway. They are going to have a pedestrian overpass that will connect to the east side of Columbia Road so people can park in the big lot on that side and walk across without competing with vehicle traffic. (hopefully it will be used more than the existing tunnel) Also, there is a possibility of expanding the ramp to the east side at a later date.
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