Parrish Park selected as site for Carbondale dog park

The Friends of the Carbondale Dog Park and the Carbondale Park District have settled on Parrish Park as the site of an upcoming dog park.

The idea of the dog park started more than a year ago when a group of individuals got together in the summer of 2016 to look for ways to make the park a reality, according to Friends of the Carbondale Dog Park member Jane Adams.

She said after initial talks with the park district and city officials, the group had an open meeting with the public in February.

"Out of that came our board of directors and we became a formal organization," Adams said.

The group went back to the park district to secure a site in May, and after some more work, it got the green light this November.

"We were thrilled," Adams said about finally securing a site. "We think Parrish Park is a terrific site."

Next comes the development of a site plan. Adams said the group will work with the park district to ensure there isn't interference with soccer games happening at the park, but still have plenty of space for animals to roam and play.

After the site plan comes fundraising, Adams said. The group has set a goal of $100,000. She said the money is for fencing for two acres, which preliminary came in at about $27,000. The group also needs to add water fountains and would like to add crushed rock, among other amenities.

"We would like to make this a real wonderful space for people," Adams said. "We have very ambitious plans."

Park District Executive Director Kathy Renfro said the park district will be on-hand for the group for site development and provide maintenance for the park.

After the site plan is developed, it will need to be approved by the Carbondale Park District Board of Commissioners.

Renfro said she is thrilled to see this process moving forward.

"I think it is about giving people a place to come together," she said. "Similar to the Super Splash Park, we hope it will build a stronger community by giving people a destination or reason to go to meet their friends and neighbors."