Facelift planned for City Beach dog park
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May 19—PLATTSBURGH — Pending an affirmative vote from the Plattsburgh City Common Council this Thursday evening, the rundown dog park located steps from the Crete Memorial Civic Center and nearby the Plattsburgh City Beach entrance could see some major upgrades before the dog days of summer come to a close.
The Clinton County Board of Realtors raised nearly $11,000 to restore the park's tiny footprint, at one time a miniature golf course, there and the Common Council will this week consider a resolution to match the donation and double the play area's size.
According to Clinton County Board of Realtors Association Executive Mike Coughlin, the project dates back to 2014 when, during a community service day, the realtor group was picking up trash nearby the small doggy play area and, realizing it was in disarray, wanted to fix it up for Plattsburgh's pet parents.
"We started to think, 'What can we do to make this better?'"
PUPS BIG AND SMALL
Coughlin said such launched fundraising efforts, through which the $10,000-plus was raised, including a $5,000 grant from the National Association of Realtors.
If given the council's OK, funding would be enough to complete planned renovations to the existing dog park and also add a second one altogether.
A section of the grassy area located east of the existing dog park would be fenced in to make a larger dog park for bigger canines. The current play area would then be reconstructed and fit for smaller pups.
"Obviously they can intermingle, but in some cases big dogs and little dogs don't get along — and the owners know that," Coughlin said, noting an open public forum held in 2018 where pooch owners offered project input and had requested a two-park system.
"That was clear; they really wanted a smaller dog park and a larger dog park."
To ensure continued use, Coughlin said the existing park would not be reconstructed until the new area was open for play.
'HORRIBLY IN FAVOR'
During a recent committee meeting, city councilors voted the item onto this week's regular meeting agenda.
Councilor Patrick McFarlin (D-Ward 5), a dog owner himself, said he was "horribly in favor" of the project.
"Right now, if you've gone to that dog park, it's tiny," he said during the meeting. "There's actually a lot of concrete there, but this will expand it out quite a bit."
The councilor noted the city's other dog park, positioned at Melissa Penfield Park on Boynton Avenue, and said both were in serious disrepair.
"I hope to get more funding in the future to build (future) dog parks, but also to repair the one in Melissa Penfield Park," he said. "But this is a great start. I'm really excited about it."
Mayor Christopher Rosenquest echoed McFarlin's hopes for the Melissa Penfield Park dog park and said the addition of another one at South Acres Park on Peru Street was also under consideration.
'GRATIFYING' END
Due to some supply hiccups, Coughlin could not provide a definitive project timeline, but hoped the new doggy play area would be fenced in and opened by July 4th weekend and the current area reconstructed by the close of summer.
Though the organization hit some roadblocks over the years, he was happy to see the project's finish line up ahead, especially as he and colleagues mourned the loss of former board president Mary Fry.
Fry, who Coughlin said was well known in the Plattsburgh community, passed away in 2019, but had pups of her own and was a champion of this dog park initiative.
"That it's there and that you can almost touch it — it's gratifying," he said of the finish line. "It has been a long haul, but we persevered. We said we were going to do (it) and now we're going to do what we said we would."
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Twitter: @McKenzieDelisle
