The proposed dog park at the former Clifford Stone at 2900 N. Campbell St. should be started and completed in the spring, and most of the improvements at Tower Park should also be finished this year, officials said.
Parks Superintendent John Seibert said there should be a May grand opening for Tower’s new basketball courts, and the parks department will break ground on the planned baseball/softball field in March and finish by late summer.
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That field, primarily donated by the family pro baseball player Jeff Samardzija, will have synthetic turf.
The parks department also hopes that the Porter County the Career and Technical Center students across the street from Tower will help with the shelter and playground construction in 2018, Seibert said Jan.24 at the Parks Board meeting.
Construction of the dog park will also rely heavily on volunteers, officials said.
Seibert said that Rob Thorgren, who was co-chair on the 2014 all-volunteer rebuild of Valplayso, will be heading that up.
Lakeshore Paws will also be working on the two acres of the land that will be the dog park proper, but some of the remaining 12 acres will go to public works as a satellite site and be used by the Park’s Department horticultural team for growing the plants and flowers for city properties instead of buying them.
People are already asking about having “nameplates” for dogs and pets at the dog park, much like the nameplates of families and children at Valplayso, Seibert said.
James D. Wolf Jr. is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.