Brisco romps his way around the new dog park on Providence Street.



As the solar eclipse wandered from peak visibility, Worcester shone its light on something entirely different: the opening of the city�s first dog park, Vernon Hill Dog Park, located at 144 Providence St., next to the Dennis F. Shine Memorial Pool on Monday, Aug. 21. Dog parks, long a discussion in the community, have finally arrived, and city officials, as well as eager dogs, celebrated the occasion.



The Vernon Hill Dog Park is the first of three dog parks opening this year, with Beaver Brook Park and downtown to follow some time after Labor Day.



�Alright, I guess they�re ready to go here,� mayor Joe Petty joked as a chorus of barking dogs erupted in the park. �This is a great thing and something we�ve been working on for a long time. I know Gary Rosen [city council] did a good job with the district councilors. The manager, Rob Antonelli, had identified 11 different locations for dog parks here in the city of Worcester. This is the first one. We have Beaver Brook opening right after Labor Day and we�re working on a downtown dog park.�



It was hard for those on hand not to crack jokes in the newly minted dog park, as the dogs themselves didn�t care to wait for the speaker�s comments, preferring instead to run, bark and play. �I just want you to remember one thing,� said district three city councilor George Russell. �George Russell advocated for this park. Unless there�s an incident between a big dog and a little dog, then it was Gary Rosen�s idea.�



�All kidding aside,� he added, �thank you for coming out today. It�s for the dogs, but it�s really not for the dogs. It�s for the residents who have dogs and who spend an awful lot of time outside walking their dogs.�



Major cities across the United States have seen their numbers of dog parks for years, with 569 off-leash dog parks in the country�s 100 largest cities as of 2010, according to USA Today. That marks a 34-percent increase in five years, with just a three-percent increase in overall parks in that time.



�Most progressive cities across the country have more than one dog park,� said district five city councilor Gary Rosen [Rosen is seeking an at-large seat in the upcoming election].



�We�ll have three and we�ll work on others.� �We�ve been talking about opening dog parks like this, official ones, fenced-in and so on, for at least 20 years,� he added. What we have here in district three today is something that is so wonderful. It�s the culmination of the hopes and dreams of so many people.�