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- Boulder City Council approves plan for dog park (4-16-2010)
Map of Veterans Memorial Park
After six years of hard work, the See Spot Run organization is ready to break ground on a new dog park in Boulder City.
The park will take 3.5 acres out of Veteran’s Memorial Park in the city’s northwest area. See Spot Run has been raising money and contacting contractors since 2004, said Margeret Kolar, the organization’s president.
The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday.
Grading will begin later this fall, Kolar said, and she hopes the park -- which hasn’t been given a name yet -- will open next spring.
The project has rested on the efforts of Kolar and See Spot Run. Kolar said she first approached Boulder City about building a dog park in 2004 because she felt it was needed.
Even then, the city said it had no funding for a park and no plans were in the works. But, if Kolar started a nonprofit organization and raised the money for construction, the city said it would lease the park space for $1 a year.
So Kolar did exactly that, exercising her imagination to come up with such fundraisers as a celebrity dog walk, when they rolled out a red carpet for Boulder City’s pooches, selling decorated doghouses and a rummage sale.
The town’s response, Kolar said, has been very supportive.
“People have become impatient. A dog park is probably better for the people,” Kolar said with a laugh. “It’s very social. Immediately, it breaks down all barriers. I think it enhances the community.”
In total, See Spot Run has raised $65,000 for grading, contractor services, fences, shade structures -- everything except the land, Kolar said.
The park will be divided into three sections: one for large dogs, one for small dogs and one for more strenuous exercises and games.
See Spot Run also received a grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from the U.S. Department of Forestry for 94 trees to be planted in the new park, Kolar said, which should provide some extra shade in the summer months.
As the park’s opening approaches, Kolar said she is relieved that See Spot Run’s hard work is coming to fruition – and excited for the owners, and their mutts, to experience it.
“The dogs need the exercise. They become more socialized,” Kolar said. “It’s going to be thrilling.”
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