Many mourned the closing of the Boca
Grande 7th Street dog park last September
but there is also anticipation in
the air, as the opening of a new dog park is in
the very near future. In fact, some of our fourlegged
and two-legged residents are already
utilizing the new location where our future dog
park will be.
When The Gasparilla Inn & Club closed the
park last fall to begin construction on a new
project that includes new cottages, new fi tness
facilities, a new tennis club and more, Inn administrators
asked Lee County how they could help
in expediting plans for a
new dog park. After all, for
many years the dog park
is where deals are made,
where the society gossip
is dished out … and that’s
just between the dogs. For
many humans, the dog park
meant even more.
According to Lee County,
dog waste bag stations
and trash receptacles have
already been placed at the
fi eld on Wheeler Road,
where the future dog park
will be. The county has
owned that land for many
years, and put the tennis
courts in on the other side
of Wheeler Road when The Island School was
built, and the courts there had to be taken out.
In November, Lee County held a brief public
meeting regarding the proposed dog park being
built at that particular site, and while there was
some contention among some of the neighbors
on Wheeler Road, the paper ballots that were
handed out in the meeting, as well as many
emails and phone calls to the county, showed
overwhelming support for the project.
Two plans were shown for the proposed dog
park. One, called Plan B, includes a very “bare
bones” approach with a small dog (.24 acres)
and large dog (.48 acres) separated fenced area,
a dog wash area and a bench. The ball fi eld
would remain in that scenario. The second plan,
Plan A, is more elaborate and includes landscaping
to provide more shade and aesthetics.
In Plan A the large dog area is slated to be .59
acres, the small dog fi eld is to be .32 acres. It
would take over the ball fi eld.
We asked Lee County where they were in the
process now, and were told that while the timing
has yet to be determined as to exactly when
construction on the new park will start, it is a
done deal.
Jessie Lavender, executive director of Lee
County Parks & Recreation, said the county is
working with a design fi rm to produce 100
percent plans and a cost estimate for the new
park. It is anticipated the county will go through
with the full-scale plan, or Plan A.
Right now, Lavender said he couldn’t provide
clear construction or completion dates.
In the mean time, an update from the Boca
Grande Dog Park Facebook page in December
showed happy pups, happy humans and the
beginnings of activity. While the property isn’t
entirely fenced yet, well-behave dogs that don’t
need them (and their human counterparts) are
enjoying the socializing already.