Bentonville Bark Park Update

Hey Guys!

As promised, I'm passing along the latest on the Bentonville Bark Park. This article is from today's Benton County Daily Record. If you'd like to read the article at its original source, click here.

Dog Park Takes Root

By Jeff Mores Staff Writer - jeffm@nwanews.com

BENTONVILLE - The planned May 2 grand opening of the Bentonville Bark Park - being constructed between the North Bentonville Trail and North Walton Boulevard - is a go, but only because the city came up with some sod to replace the grass seed that had been planted previously. The excitement surrounding the opening of the area's first off-leash dog park has been apparent since hundreds attended a fundraising event for the park last year. But while the park gates remain locked, anxious visitors hop the fence to give their pooches a sneak peek at the facilities. As a result of their actions, however, the seed that had been spread is not producing grass.

This week, the city came up with a remedy to at least a portion of the problem; workers took the sod being removed from the infields of the baseball diamonds at Memorial Park and installed it in a portion of the Bentonville Bark Park. "We're regrading the fields at Memorial Park and probably would have ended up throwing away the grass we removed there, so we decided it could be put to use at the dog park," said David Wright, city parks and recreation manager. "We sodded what we could at this time, and I think it's really going to help get things in shape for the May 2 grand opening."

Wright asks residents to stay away from the dog park until May 2 because the sod must begin to take root.

Wright said plans are to install a dog agility course prior to the opening as well.

For more information on the Bentonville Bark Park, go to www.bentonvillear.com and click on the "Bark Park" tab on the right side of the page.

To me, this sounds like a desperate plea from the city to keep off the grass. I know it's hard, especially on days when the weather is beautiful, but for the sake of everyone, I think we should try! If you really must take your dog out to run, try Murphy Dog Park in Rogers until the grass has grown in! Murphy Dog Park is located at 407 E Nursery Road. It's next door to the Humane Society for Animals in Rogers, just east of the intersection of 1st Street and Nursery Road.

I also think the City of Bentonville should get kudos for finding a way to solve a problem by using resources they already had! If more governments thought this way, we'd probably have less waste and more money.