Westchester residents fundraise for off-leash dog park

WESTCHESTER – An off-leash dog park – the first of its kind in Westchester – may soon be coming to the village if a group of residents and dog owners raise enough money to pay for its construction.

Mark Dedowicz, a dog owner and self-described animal advocate, is spearheading the effort, along with another Westchester resident, as part of a group dubbed "Friends of the Westchester Dog Park."

An 11-year resident of the village, Dedowicz said he logged onto Facebook in fall 2015 and posted about the lack of a dog park in the village and what could be done about it to a group focused on Westchester community issues.

"I had just joined the group and said I wished there was a dog park, and it took off from there," he said.

Dedowicz said the group has chosen a vacant parcel of Westchester Park District land in the 1100 block of Norfolk Avenue adjacent to Addison Creek as the ideal site for the proposed park.

The group also has met with the district's executive director, Gary Kasanders, and Board of Commissioners, which is so far favorable toward the idea, Kasanders said.

He said the district estimates the total cost to construct a dog park, depending on how many amenities it will possess, is roughly $35,000.

Dedowicz said he hopes to raise about $40,000 for the project through an ongoing fundraising effort. The Friends of the Westchester Dog Park group is accepting donations online via a GoFundMe page and plans to host a silent auction and dinner at a yet-to-be-determined date and location.

Additionally, Dedowicz said, the group has sent 600 letters to local businesses in the hopes that a few may choose to sponsor the project. He said any resident or business that donates $10,000 or more to the project will get naming rights to the yet-to-be-built dog park.

Kasanders said the Park District board has not yet chosen to contribute any funds to the project but could decide to do so at some point in the future.

Dedowicz, however, hopes to raise all the money needed through fundraising efforts, and he believes the park would not only prove attractive to dog owners currently living in the village but it also will help draw more families to the area.

Off-leash dog parks "are a trend that's not going away," he said.

Following discussions with interested residents, Kasanders said Park District staff conducted a survey of other off-leash dog parks in the area "to educate ourselves on what we're getting into."

Part of the reason such a park has not previously been established in the village is due to a lack of space for it, he said, and the proposed site is smaller than most dog parks in neighboring communities. Kasanders said the area is about 220 feet long and about 45 feet wide.

But Dedowicz thinks the space will work despite its size limitations.

"I walk my dog there pretty much twice a day all these years, and as I walk through I say, 'What a waste of land,'" he said. "I see people walking their dogs there all the time – there should be a dog park."

Kasanders said the park, if built, would be surrounded by a roughly 6-foot fence and be equipped with a double-entry gate so residents can enter the park with their dogs on a leash and then take the leash off inside the inner portion of the gate entrance before entering the off-leash area. The park also would include a space specifically for small dogs.

The ongoing maintenance of the park will likely be paid for with annual fees dog owners pay to use the space, he said.

A few of the outstanding questions are how water will be piped into the park and whether nearby residents will have any concerns about the project, Kasanders said.

Dedowicz said the feedback he's received from residents has been overwhelmingly positive.

Approval would be required from the Park District board before any construction begins, Kasanders said.

"We'd love to see [Friends of the Westchester Dog Park] succeed," he said. "We don't see much of a downside."

While Kasanders said he was unable to offer a potential timeline for the project given the uncertainty around its funding, Dedowicz said he hopes to have the park built by May.

"It may not be the biggest or the nicest dog park, but it will be nice and we'll enjoy it," Dedowicz said.