The newest development in downtown Albany: a dog park.

The new fenced-in play space for pups is scheduled to open this summer.

Backstory

The Downtown Albany Business Improvement District is backing the park. Executive director Georgette Steffens said the planned addition of the venue is part of an ongoing effort to make downtown a welcoming, livable place and to help encourage the continued development of new residential in the neighborhood.

"We need to be making sure that we're providing things that attract people who want to live in the housing here," Steffens said while we stood talking in Wallenberg Park, the site of the future dog park.

The hope is that the park won't just be an amenity that initially draws people, Steffens said, but it will also be a way for residents downtown to meet each other and form neighborhood connections.

By the way: More than half of the residential buildings in downtown Albany allow dogs, according to Steffens.

Dog park details



The approximate location of the planned dog park.

The 15,000-square-foot dog park will occupy a section of Wallenberg Park, the rectangle of of grass and trees bordered by N. Pearl, Clinton Ave, Broadway, and the I-787 on ramp. The land itself is owned by the state.

The BID is putting up the money for the construction of the park, which Steffens said it will be in the $40,000-$60,000 range. (The BID is funded through an assessment on properties within its district boundaries.)

Much of the cost associated with the dog park is the 6-foot decorative metal fence that will surround it, with a double gate at the entrance.

"We didn't want to do chain link fencing, we wanted to really match the high quality and historic nature of downtown," Steffens said. "That was really important to us, that it be aesthetically pleasing."

Other planned amenities include:

+ A drinking fountain for dogs

+ A couple of large rocks for dogs to play on/around

+ Four benches

+ Wi-Fi coverage, thanks to a planned partnership with the Albany Public Library

Steffens said the city already maintains Wallenberg Park, performing tasks such as mowing grass, and will continue to do so after the dog park is added. The city will also help by emptying garbage cans and refilling the dog poop bag dispensers.

Also in the works: Social events at the park, such as "Downward Dog Yoga" and a "Hops and Hounds Social."

Steffens said the aim to have the dog park open by the beginning of July.

Plans, renderings, and photos

If you're curious, there are plans, a rendering, and site photos at the top in large format -- click or scroll all the way up.

Albany dog parks

The city of Albany currently has four city-run dog parks:

+ Westland Hills Dog Park in the Westland Hills Park off Colvin Road

+ Hartman Road Dog Park, just off New Scotland Road alongside Capital Hills

+ Normanskill Dog Park in the Normanskill Farm off Delaware Ave along the Normanskill

+ Department of General Services Dog Park on Erie Boulevard in north Albany near DGS

The parade ground in Washington Park also serves as an informal dog park -- it doesn't have fencing.

Nipper statues

Oh, and a quick update on this year's downtown Albany public art project, which will involve artists customizing statues of Nipper. Steffens said the BID got more than 80 submissions to take on the challenge, so it's expanding the project from 10 to 20 of the three-foot-tall Nippers.