ATTLEBORO — The city’s dog park, located on about a half acre of land near the animal shelter off Pond Street North, has been up and running for nine years. And now, Mayor Paul Heroux wants to know if improvements can be made.
He’s hosting a “listening session” about the park starting at 6 p.m., Tuesday, at City Hall.
“I want to know if the dog park can be better, if it can be in a better location (and) if the size is OK,” he told The Sun Chronicle Friday in an email.
As for the mayor, he thinks it needs to be more accessible, closer to the center of the city, rather than located on the Seekonk line.
Most of the dog park is actually in Seekonk, he said.
“I think we should have something more centrally located,” Heroux said.
But he wants to get some public input before taking any action.
“I want to hear what people have in mind to make for a better dog park and propose some ideas about where we could relocate to,” he said.
Heroux acknowledged, however, it’s possible people like it where it is and a move is not necessary.
“Maybe people like where it is and we don’t move,” Heroux said. “I don’t know … that is why I am doing this city hall listening session.”
The dog park exists because then-Attleboro resident Roberta Collins began an effort to get it built in 2007 and 2008.
At the time, Mayor Kevin Dumas said the park had to be self-sufficient and volunteers would need to raise the money needed for construction, which was mostly fencing.
The city council passed a dog park ordinance in June 2008 and four years later, in September 2012, when Collins and her pack of volunteers had raised enough cash, ground was broken for the park.
It officially opened on Feb. 1, 2013.