A drawing of the proposed renovation of Filippello Park, which includes a dog park.
The town recently released a drawing of plans to renovate the entrance to Filippello Park, but proponents of a dog park did not like one feature – the size of the dog park.
The entrance off Grove Street will be renovated after the Watertown Recycling Center moved from there to the westside of town. In December, the Public Works subcommittee voted to place the second town-run dog park at Filippello Park. The first one was built at How Park on Pleasant Street.
At Tuesday’s Town Council meeting Deb Whitman, a member of the Watertown Dog Park Task Force expressed her discontent with the proposal.
“The proposed dog park is of great concern – mainly space,” Whitman said. “It is too small. We don’t understand why the town need another green. We already have green space.”
Whitman argued that if a larger dog park was put in at Filippello Park, residents wouldn’t walk their dogs on school grounds or other areas where they are not supposed to be doing so.
“There is little usable space in town for this,” Whitman said. “I believe this is the only place to put a new dog park.”
Whitman and others will have a chance to give their input about the dog park and other features of the renovation of Filippello Park during a meeting hosted by the Recreation Department on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chamber in Town Hall.
This is a pathetic proposal. The How Park is bad enough, a steep unusable incline, no gravel, deep holes, dust and mud- but this proposal is truly horrendous. Is this supposed to be a joke? I’d be happy to be on a committee of serious minded residents whose aspirations for Watertown go beyond mediocre.
Agree that the dog area is too small. It is nice that it seems to include a wooded area for the dogs. Make the green smaller and replace it with something like a Rose Garden that is more interesting. And maybe an arbor with grape vines and seating for shade.
Make more room for dogs and add some bocce courts. We need features that will encourage those too old for full court basketball to come and congregate as well. The ping pong tables are a start. They work very well in Bryant Park in New York. Look to great and well used parks in other cities for ideas.
The long and narrow part designated for dogs is inappropriate for dogs but perfect for a Bacci court, and a Gaga court in the circular upper area would be an awesome addition to the recreational options in town. Gaga is very cheap to build and needs very little maintenance. (Gaga is a game played all over the world and at nearly every summer camp by 2 or more players with a playground ball. IMPORTANT: It’s a great game for kids who may not enjoy team sports; they deserve outdoor play options, too.
As for the dog park, go visit the one on Newtonville Avenue at Cabot Park in Newton to see what a safe dog park should look like. For safety’s sake a dog park should never be as far way from the road as this one is planned to be: a group of dogs in a narrow, confined space is a bad idea, as anyone who understands dog behavior will know, especially when the area can’t be seen from the road if help is required.
This design needs to be reconfigured by people who know dogs well and will experience the dog park. I think the best, safest design for a dog park is a wide open space in sight of the road, with sunshine on a good sized gravel area for the dogs, and seating and trees with shade for dog owners.