Dog lovers now have another place to take their pets since a small dog area opened last week at Goyne Park behind Ecoff Elementary School, 5200 Ecoff Ave.
Chesterfield County Parks and Recreation officials held a grand opening at the park Thursday afternoon, April 18.
An agility course and large dog area are scheduled to open at the park in mid-July, Parks and Recreation planning and construction services chief Stuart Connock Jr. said. Until then, he said all dogs can use the small dog area.
The agility course will feature fake tree trunks, pipes for dogs to run through, platforms for them to jump on and off and low hurdles for jumping.
Sean Eichert, a member of the volunteer group Chester Community Association, said the Chester dog park is the culmination of a five-year effort that began with an online poll in the Village News about what was wanted for the community. A dog park was No. 1 on the list, he said.
Chester Community Association will help organize fundraisers for the park and enforce the rules of the dog park while a committee to oversee the dog park is created.
The Chester Community Association donated $5,000 toward construction of Goyne Dog Park, which is the county’s second dog park. The first was built at Rockwood Park 15 years ago, Connock said.
He noted that the Parks and Recreation Department’s master plan, which was updated last year, calls for three more dog parks to be built over the next 10 years.
Point of Rocks playground
In other recreational news, an environmental-themed playground will soon be coming to R. Garland Dodd Park at Point of Rocks, 201 Enon Church Road.
On March 27, the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors accepted a $86,956 grant from the nonprofit National Recreation and Parks Association for the playground. Local matching funds were not required.
Parks and Recreation assistant director James Perdue said the playground will be for ages 5-12 and include eight play pods that will be placed within the existing park trail. The pods will include shapes such as a spider web, frog, logs, tree swing, ants and bees. Interpretive signage will be displayed at the site near Ashton Creek Marsh.
Perdue said the target opening date is mid-September, with assistance provided by Niagara Bottling Co.
