With a crowd of some 30 people on hand, Oak Park parks officials identified four viable sites for permanent dog facilities within the village at a meeting in Field Center Wednesday evening. Two of those sites will ultimately be chosen for permanent use.
In addition, officials said a fifth site not owned by the district is also under consideration, but is considered a long term option.
Four neighborhood meetings have been scheduled over the first two weeks of April to gather public input on the proposed sites. A final public presentation will be made at Stevenson Center on May 3, and a final decision by park commissioners is due on May 18.
The five sites”Taylor Park, Maple Park, Stevenson Center, and Ridgeland Common, along with a possible site along the Eisenhower expressway just east of the post office turnaround”were determined to best meet a set of criteria established by park district staff.
John McManus of the urban design firm Altamanu conducted the meeting. McManus acknowledged that the main concerns expressed by residents have been “poop and noise,” and said that the establishment of any dog facility in a park is “a balancing act” with the surrounding environment.
The four proposed sites range in size from 0.18 acres (8,000 square feet) to 0.3 acres (13,800 square feet). With the exception of the Garfield Street site, the costs of transforming the sites would be low to moderate. Funds would have to be obtained to purchase the Garfield site, which McManus called “an interesting site, but in the long term.” All the sites, parks executive director Gary Balling said, would have low visibility in, and low impact on, the surrounding the neighborhoods, and would also have low to moderate impacts on the existing parks themselves.
The primary concern regarding Taylor Park is its historic nature, it having been designed by legendary landscape architect Jens Jensen.
“You’re dealing with God,” said McManus of Jensen, only half joking. However, both McManus and Balling pointed out that the site will be well shielded from general view, and in an area adjacent to the tennis courts that is not currently used for any other purpose. McManus also noted that, while Taylor Park is historic, it has undergone extensive alterations to its topography and layout over the past few decades.
There is other precedent, he said.
“New York has already put dog parks in two [legendary urban designer Fredrick Law] Olmstead-designed parks.” The key to any successful dog park, he added, was “good materials, plenty of landscaping, and nice fences.”
McManus seemed most impressed with the potential of the Maple Park site off of South Harlem Avenue. Besides being the largest site at 0.3 acres, the proposed area is fully removed from nearby homes, and features well-developed trees and other plantings.
“We could really do a nice piece of landscaping here,” he said.
Stevenson Park, while smaller than the other sites at 8,000 square feet, is a strong candidate because it’s sandwiched between the elevated tracks to the south, fenced-in basketball courts and skate park to the north, and its distance from any area homes. There is also plenty of parking.
“It has great potential for a dog park,” said McManus.
