If you live long enough, not much will surprise you.
Today, in my 62nd year, I can check another item of my list of things I never expected, courtesy of Tuesday’s Starkville Board of Aldermen meeting.
During the meeting, the aldermen discussed details of the city’s $16 million masterplan for improvement at its city parks. The masterplan calls for roughly $1.5 million in improvements at George Evans Park/Needmore Center located near downtown on Gillespie Street.
The existing Needmore Center will be replaced with a new 3,000 square foot building, a new park entryway, a new restroom facility and a tree-lined sidewalk connection to Gillespie Street.
Some citizens grumbled about the new center, noting that it was smaller than the one it will replace. Fair argument.
But what I did not expect is that some of the nearby residents also had issues with another planned amenity – a 7,000 square foot dog park.
Who doesn’t like dog parks? What issues could dog parks possibly create? Dog parks are open during daylight hours, so it’s not as though neighbors living near the park are going to hear barking dogs at all hours, at least not any more than they normally do if they live where dogs are common pets. The park is fenced, so it’s not like a dog park is going to mean mutts are constantly nosing through your trash cans or digging up your flower beds.
The concept of dog parks is nothing new and I’ve never heard of any major incidents at these facilities. Unlike human parks, dogs don’t go to dog parks, get liquored up and start shooting up the place. To the best of my knowledge, dogs don’t congregate at dog parks to sell or use drugs. Dogs don’t carry spray paint to dog parks and tag walls and benches.
So what’s the problem?
My first visit to a dog park came about 20 years ago when I was working as a columnist in Arizona and was assigned to write a column about the grand-opening of the Town of Gilbert’s new dog park.
This was a time when the housing boom was at its peak. By 2000, the Gilbert’s population had quadrupled to 160,000 in just 20 years, and the town was so flush with property tax money it had to look around for ways to spend it.
One of those ways was Cosmo Dog Park, and the town spared no expense in building it. The park was named for a K-9 officer killed in the line of duty, and it featured an astounding 175,000 square feet of fenced area (segregated for “active”and “timid” dogs), lights for night use (there being no residential housing near the property), pet drinking fountains, two dog washing stations and multiple dog waste disposal stations.
But what really set Cosmo Dog Park apart from the others was a lake, filled with reclaimed water, and featuring a synthetic beach.
The lake/beach was clearly the star attraction. Hundreds of dog owners turned out for the grand-opening and, upon discovering the lake and beach, out came the sticks and tennis balls. It was retriever heaven.
I watched one Golden Labrador, her face white with age, dutifully retrieve tennis balls thrown not only by her owner, but by anybody else, as if she considered it her personal responsibility to retrieve every ball and every stick hurled into the lake.
At first, she returned, ball in mouth, with a bounce to her step and tail fanning the air. But after about 15 minutes, her energy level began to lag and she would return, exhausted from her efforts, only to see another ball thrown by another dog owner bound for the lake, which she wearily pursued. Poor girl.
It occurred to me as I wandered around the dog park, talking to dog owners and petting an endless array of breeds, that visiting a dog park is like having a good friend who owns a boat. You get to enjoy the experience without the assorted costs and challenges that go with ownership.
I would suggest that those folks who are opposed to dog parks, visit one.
I think they would change their minds.
But who knows? Live long enough and nothing will surprise you.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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