AMHERST — Amherst’s first municipal dog park is getting nearer to becoming a reality, with its construction depending on the town obtaining a $225,000 grant from a private foundation based in Cambridge.
“We’re very close to submitting final plans to Stanton Foundation to get the grant,” Dog Park Task Force Chairman Jim Pistrang said. “We have every reason to believe we’ll be successful with them.”
The Stanton Foundation previously provided a $25,000 design grant last July, which allowed Berkshire Design Group of Northampton to develop a conceptual plan for using 2 acres of the 53-acre capped landfill on the south side of Belchertown Road.
That plan shows two separate areas for pets, one for large dogs and one for small dogs, shade structures, benches, a play mound and 18 parking spaces, with some portions grass and others pea stone.
Stanton has supported construction of enclosed dog parks in several communities, including Agawam, Greenfield and Ludlow.
Once the grant is in hand, the town can go out to bid for construction, with work beginning this summer and fall. If the bids are not favorable, the project would be delayed until later in the season.
Either way, the dog park should break ground in 2019. “We very much hope to see construction happening this year,” Pistrang said.
The full dog park should be ready for use in 2020, though the grass areas will be the last to open.
The dog park is several years in the making. In summer 2015, a petition circulated calling on town officials to build a dog park, and a community meeting demonstrating support was held. But plans stalled until fall 2016, when Pistrang volunteered to lead a committee.
Pistrang said being on a landfill means some extra complications for permitting, though a dog park is considered a safe use for the site.
In addition to the grant, the project needs to be reviewed by several committees.
Pistrang said project plans were recently presented to the Disability Access Advisory Committee, and a Planning Board meeting is being scheduled.
Next week, the Design Review Board examines the dog park plans on April 23, and the following evening it comes before the Conservation Commission, which must determine the necessary buffer zone to bordering vegetated wetlands.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
