Dog park gets boost from big-box retailers

The Walmart and Lowe's stores on Turner Road are donating time, money and supplies to help the city develop a dog park in a portion of Cascades Gateway Park that backs up to their businesses.

The aim is to deter illegal activity. Toni Whitler, administrative analyst for parks operations for the city of Salem, said a dog park would do just that, and officials hope to have it completed by the end of the year.

"We have found that to be true in many of our parks," Whitler said. "The more the parks are developed, the less likely they are to have criminal activity."

The push to develop a dog park in Cascades Gateway Park started in October 2014, when Walmart Manager Jerry Harris contacted Tibby Larson, the parks volunteer coordinator for the city of Salem.

Walmart and Lowe's were concerned about thefts they were experiencing from the back of their stores and from the inside in connection with being so close to the park.

While the two businesses liked being close to the park, Larson said, they wanted to change the culture of the park.

Larson said there was a lot of overgrown shrubbery in the part of the park that backs up to the stores. They wanted the growth cleared to eliminate the ability for people to hide.

Soon after contacting Larsonwork began. Volunteers from the city and both stores started clearing out shrubs cleaning up trash, and making pathways to the park. But by the time winter rolled around their efforts had dwindled.

Larson said it wasn't until after the April 24 police standoff and shooting in the Walmart parking lot that she received a call from Harris, reminding her that they need to keep working towards their goal of a healthy park.

Park development has been shown to reduce crime in other areas of Salem, and developed parks experience less vandalism and graffiti, Whitler said.

"A huge example is Northgate Park," Whitler said. "We had a lot of issues with vandalism and graffiti. There was a lot of gang and negative activity. At one time there was a shooting there and a young man was killed."

In 2006, the city and the surrounding neighborhood received grants. They were able to add a splash fountain, a stage for concerts and group activities, and lighting for the soccer field. The park also added a community garden.

Whitler said Grant School Park is another neighborhood park that has benefited from improvements. The city, with help from the neighborhood, gutted the playground structure and replaced it with new, safer, equipment.

The dog park will be developed in phases on a three-acre piece of land behind Walmart and Lowe's in Cascades Gateway Park. The first phase would be to fence off a large area and then partition an area within it for smaller dogs.

The work is estimated to cost $15,000.

Plans for a second phase have not been made, but ideas such as a gravel parking lot, or fencing off a bigger area, have been thrown around.

The city has been working closely with store management throughout the planning process. Walmart applied for a community grant, and has been awarded $2,000. The city will encourage the store to apply for another community grant in a few months.

aarmstrong@statesmanjournal.com; (503) 399-6745 or follow on Twitter at @AlexaArletta





Donate

The Salem Parks Foundation will also be accepting donations for the dog park. To donate visit the Salem Parks Foundation website, and click on the "donate" tab. Or mail a check to to P.O. Box 5764, Salem, OR 97304, and write "Cascades Gateway dog park," in the memo line.