Dog Park Will Expand into Old Baseball Field

Concept for the dog park expansion at Gage Park from Shawnee County Parks and Recreation

By Michael Hooper

Shawnee County Parks and Recreation recently removed fencing and grandstands at the Gage Park baseball field to make room for the expansion of the dog park.

With the help of a $175,000 grant from Hill's Pet Nutrition, Shawnee County Parks and Recreation will double the size of the Hill's Bark Park at Gage Park.

A drawing of the expansion plan shows the small dog area will increase in size and the large dog area will take over the old ball field.

"Both sides of the dog park will be substantially larger," said Chris Curtis, park planner/project manager with Parks and Rec.

Parks and Rec is now receiving bids for fencing for the new dog park areas. Parks and Rec removed the old fence from the ball field about three weeks ago.

Curtis said there will be separate entrances to the small dog area and large dog area plus a second entrance to the large dog area.

Parks and Rec will be moving lights and adding irrigation, so that it can maintain the grass in the dog park, Curtis said. One of the problems right now is overuse of the land in the large dog park area. The grass disappears and the land becomes muddy after rains.

Parks and Rec will maintain some trees inside the dog park areas to provide shade. Plus there will be a shelter for shade.

The dog park area became hugely successful when it opened about 20 years ago. 

I spoke with people who use the dog park and they are quite excited about the expansion.

I used to take my Boston Terrier Willy to the dog park nearly every day until he died in 2017 at the age of 14. He loved socializing with other dogs. He got hurt when mixing with the larger dogs, so I was quite pleased when a separation was made of large and small dog areas.

I'd like to thank Hill's Pet Nutrition for contributing the money for this expansion of the dog park. You are doing a great service for pet lovers and their dogs in the Topeka area.

Curtis said he hopes the expansion of the dog park is completed by next summer. He anticipates the dog park will remain open while construction of the expansion is underway.