By Sophie Pappas
On a beautiful spring evening at Lions Park, families swarm the playground. The thermometer has finally hit 60 degrees, and everyone wants to be outside.
One couple plays with their small daughter, Leila, as their Australian shepherd sits nearby, strapped to a park bench.
“We’d love to have a place for him to run,” Leila’s mom, Elli said. “It would be great to have a dog park in Zionsville.”
At the April agenda-setting meeting for the Zionsville Town Council, councilwoman Susana Suarez said she was very much in favor of the town constructing a dog park at Heritage Trail Park, located at 875 E. and 400 S.
“I’d like to see us revive the discussion [for a dog park],” Suarez said.
According to Matt Dickey, Zionsville Superintendent of Parks and Rec, it has been four years since the concept was first introduced.
In 2010, the parks board received a $200,000 federal grant, administered by the state of Indiana. This grant, titled a land and water conservation grant, was used to build phase one of Heritage Trail Park.
“We could have included a dog park in phase one,” Dickey said.
However, two public input meetings were held. At the first meeting, Zionsville residents in attendance showed an overwhelming favor for a dog park. At the second meeting, the residents in attendance were against the dog park.
“I think there is public interest in a dog park,” Dickey said. “But after that second meeting, we decided not to make it part of phase one.”
Now that phase one of Heritage Trail Park is complete, and the $200,000 is already spent, Dickey said that for a dog park to be established, the parks board needs to see interest from the general public in order to include a dog park in its next budget.
“It would be most helpful to the cause if we would see public support,” Dickey said.
Although Dickey is personally in favor of a dog park, he said that he must remain non-biased when it comes to moving forward on the project.
“It’s really about what the board decides,” he said.
Dickey said that there is more than four acres set aside for a dog park at Heritage Trail Park, including the potential for needed irrigation of the dog park grass.
“What’s typical is that you use half of the land for one season, and the other half of the land the next season,” he said.
This helps keep the grass from dying when exposed to canine extrament.
The parks department is expected to go before the town council in July to discuss budgetary matters for the next year.
By then, Zionsville residents would need to make it clear that they are interested in seeing the town put in a dog park.
To see more examples of dog parks in Indiana, visit these nearby five-star facilities.
Avon Dog Park -115 South Co Rd 575 East, Avon
Broad Ripple Dog Park– 1610 Broad Ripple Ave.,
Indianapolis
Humane Society of Indianapolis Dog Park – 7929 Michigan Rd.,
Indianapolis
