Ginger meets new friends at the dog friendly area at Arm Brook Park as her owner supervises. (Photo courtesy The Westfield Dog Bark Friends)
WESTFIELD – It was more than five years ago that Ed Phillips first floated the idea of a dog park in the city and in that time a group of dedicated volunteers, and city officials, have made it a reality.
At 1 p.m. on Saturday, a ribbon will be cut at the dog friendly area at Arm Brook Park on Lockhouse Road to make it official.
Although the fence has been up and the park has been used by dog owners who have known about it for more than a year, the ribbon cutting ceremony sanctioned by the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission will make the playground for dogs in a city park officially open for all comers.
The plans for the celebration of the official opening include, in addition to the ribbon cutting ceremony, a reception with light refreshments and games for the dogs and persons attending the event.
The celebration will be the culmination of effort which began in March, 2010, when Phillips, a city native and retired teacher, started to organize a group of volunteers to develop the idea of a playground for dogs. An organization, The Westfield Dog Bark Friends, was formalized and Phillips was elected president, with Marilyn Sandidge serving as the vice president, Lindsay Carr, secretary and Mariah Strattner, treasurer.
The new organization was granted charitable tax status in February, 2012, revitalizing the ongoing fundraising efforts while the board of directors continued to search for a site for the Dog Bark.
Several potential sites including Chapman Playground, Stanley Park, WSU Foundation property on Russell Road, and Water Department property near Neck Road were considered and a suggestion from the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission to use part of Papermill Playground for a dog park went as far as a public hearing where both neighbors and Little League officials objected.
Although the Papermill proposal was abandoned, a earlier proposal to use other Parks and Recreation property at Arm Brook Park was revived.
There had been an active city park on the shores of the Arm Brooks flood control dam since the 1960s with a pavilion, a toilet building, a beach and other amenities but it suffered years of neglect and decreased use and was closed in 1991 after vandals had damaged much of it and the remaining structure was condemned after a fire.
The dormant city park was surveyed by Jim Blascak, interim director of the Parks and Recreation Department, and Sandidge and then the Friends began to develop a plan to site a dog friendly area on the property.
The plan called for the erection of a fenced area near the entrance to the park for unleashed dog play.
A secondary goal was to add to existing fencing to contain a second, much larger area, bounded by the reservoir where dogs which could be trusted off leash could run in the woods with their handlers.
Development of the dog friendly area stalled for a time as other city departments were surveyed but, in 2013, the Parks and Recreation Commission and Mayor Daniel Knapik, an early advocate of the effort to reopen Arm Brook Park with a dog friendly area, authorized the Friends to install fencing to create a playground for dogs.
Using the proceeds of the many fundraising events the Friends had staged since they became organized, a play area was enclosed with fencing and the Parks and Recreation Commission approved rules for use of the dog friendly area.
Since then, the playground has been used by dog owners and their dogs with maintenance provided by the volunteers of the Friends.
The Friends are committed to continue to work with the commission to maintain and improve the dog friendly area of the park.
The immediate plans of the Friends are to augment the mulch in the play area and to work with the city officials who have agreed to bring both water and electrical service back to the park.
