It’s not just the “Wooster Square Dog Park.” It’s the “Downtown” Dog Park, too.
That was the sense Saturday morning among 50 neighbors who came to Union Street off Chapel Street — along with their free-running greyhounds, mixed breeds, bulldogs, pit bulls, rescue dogs, and some Labradors — for a celebratory ribbon cutting at a new dog park.
Click on the play arrow to the video watch highlights of the event and hear what neighbors had to say.
A neighborhood group called Friends of Wooster Square raised over $11,000 so the city could build the new park after they lost their popular old spot for taking dogs off the leash at the Conte/West Hills School. (Read about that here and here.)
Saturday’s activities included raffles, ribbon cutting and some chasing of the tail from time to time, plus lots of laughter and smiles.
The crowd included not just the Wooster Square regulars, but dog owners from downtown, including tenants at the 360 State Street tower a block away. Living in a denser downtown space, the dog owners there were happy to have a place for their pets to roam free.
“This bridges the gap between Wooster Square and downtown,” said one of the event’s speakers.
“It’s one of the biggest dog parks we’ve seen,” remarked the owner of an Australian Shepherd-Labrador named Freya.
The Union Street lot used to be a “dead space.” Now it has a fence, benches, waste receptacles, biodegradable waste removal mitts. Organizers, including Downtown Alderman Doug Hausladen, thanked Wooster Square Alderman Michael Smart (who couldn’t make the event), among others, to helping neighbors turn the dream into a reality.
Brandi Fullwood, a Hillhouse High School senior, is an Independent intern.
Bow wow WOW!