Columbus will once again close Wheeler Memorial Park because its popularity as a dog park is turning the space into a mud pit.

The city will close Wheeler Memorial Park again because its popularity as a dog park is turning the space into a mud pit.

The Columbus Department of Recreation and Parks will close the Harrison West park, just north of I-670, on Jan. 19 to allow the grass to recover, said spokeswoman Brandi Braun.

The city plans to reopen the 4-acre park in May.

The city closed down the park on Feb. 3 in 2015 for the same reason. However, some dog owners ignored the �DOG PARK AREA CLOSED� signs and hopped the fences with their dogs.

Scott Griffin, 27, who lives nearby, said he and his puppy, 5-month-old Dresden, visit every day.

�It�s a super convenient location for me,� he said, while walking his boxer-German shepherd mix. �It�s going to kind of affect my day-to-day pretty severely.�

Alanna Goldie, a junior at Ohio State University, said she understands why the city is closing the park.

�Yeah, it�s so muddy and if it rains, I won�t come here for a couple days because I know it�s just going to be nasty,� said Goldie, who was at the park on Thursday with her 11-month-old German shepherd Zola.

�And it gets really bad when there�re lots of dogs running and they slip and tumble into each other. ... It�s just chaos.�

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