Down at the Dog Park

Since June 1, the large dog section of the Hudson Dog Park has been closed for improvements and repairs.  

On Thursday, despite the heat, dogs and their humans gathered to celebrate the reopening of the park, with doggie ice cream and sparkling cider.

The improvements to the park include the installation of a pergola to provide welcome shade and shelter, new metal benches in the pergola, and repurposing a dozen of the concrete blocks used to convert parking spaces into outdoor dining areas on Warren Street as seating in parts of the dog park where there is natural shade in the late afternoon and evening.

The repairs involved reseeding vast areas of the park where the grass had been worn away by happy pups romping and playing.

The project was financed by a $5,000 "Bark for Your Park®" grant from PetSafe®, which the Hudson Dog Park won last fall in a national competition. That $5,000 was matched by a generous anonymous donor, making a total of $10,000 to realize the project. Gratitude goes to the City of Hudson for allowing twelve of the concrete blocks, not needed this year on Warren Street, to be repurposed at the dog park and to the Department of Public Works for installing them there.

The Hudson Dog Park, located at 121 North Second Street, is a public-private partnership. It is situated on land owned by the City of Hudson, but it was built with $14,000 raised by the community. The Department of Public Works mows the lawn, hauls away the trash, and plows the driveway and parking lot in winter, but all other expenses for maintaining and improving the dog park are paid for by contributions from users and supporters of the dog park. Last year, $2,500 was raised to bring water to the dog park. 

To learn more about the Hudson Dog Park, visit the dog park's website: hudsondogparkny.org.

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