Dogs get a treat

by Ralph Bartholdt Staff Writer
| September 12, 2018 1:00 AM

COEUR d’ALENE — When it is relocated later this year, the Central Bark pooch park will be a smaller version of its current incarnation, but it will be pretty much in the same place.

Coeur d’Alene parks director Bill Greenwood explained to council members — who approved the proposal to move the park — that because of landowner issues, the Central Bark Dog Park on the 3800 block of West Nez Perce Road will be moved to property that adjoins the existing dog park.

Central Bark, which belongs to the City of Coeur d’Alene, is in a field beside a row of tennis courts on private property next to Northshire Park on the city’s west side. Traffic from Atlas Road zips nearby.

The city leased the dog park property from owner Grace Bible Church, which plans to build on the 1.8-acre site in the future.

Although the church has no plans to build anytime soon, city council members said, the city has been searching for a new spot for the dog park for a while.

The search was satisfied recently when Greenwood opted for an optimal spot for the latest version of Central Bark:

Right next door to the existing one.

“I had it planned for a while because the church that purchased that parcel, they let me know they wanted to develop that property, so we knew early on,” Greenwood said.

The new location already has a fence, Greenwood said, but it may require a couple asphalt paths. Benches must be moved from the existing park to the new one, and the new park needs a bullpen — a fenced enclosure that has two doors.

“To keep the dogs from getting out,” Greenwood said.

The space is also about half the size of the existing Central Bark.

Although initially $100,000 had been allocated to purchase the 1.8 acres, or buy another property, that money was reduced in the current city budget to $10,000, which will be used to relocate the existing enclosure to Northshire Park.

The horseshoe pits that are on the land where the dog park will go will also be moved, Greenwood said. The name of the latest park will remain the same: Central Bark.