Idaho Falls Dog Park construction kicks-off with cleanup
“A dog park is one of those places that are not just for the dogs. We consider it to be a park for people with dogs, and that’s one of the things we want to make sure that we emphasize with these improvements and with the changes that we have coming to the park,” said f Idaho Falls Parks and Recreation interim director PJ Holm.
Plans for the Idaho Falls Dog Park renovations are still in the design process, but construction is coming soon. Thursday morning volunteers showed up to prep the park for it by cleaning up and planting trees.
“We’re just really excited to see the finished product. We hope that it’s something that the community is going to enjoy,” said William J. and Shirley A. Maeck Family Foundation trustee, Terri Frickey.
Last November, the dog park received a generous donation of $100,000 from the William J. and Shirley A. Maeck Family Foundation.
The money is to be used towards upgrades and improvements to make the dog park the Maeck family always dreamed for the city.
“As most of the community knows, Bill Maeck and his wife Shirley were dog lovers. They spent most of their lifetime training dogs Labradors. This was a vision Will had from the time that the animal shelter was a conception and after he passed away we wanted to make it a reality,” said Frickey.
The William J. and Shirley A. Maeck Family Foundation along with the Maeck’s two daughters, the city of Idaho Falls Parks and Recreation and the Snake River Animal Shelter, have been collaborating on getting the park renovated as soon as possible. The plans for the first phase of construction include:
“An agility course, water feature’s, shelter for the people to get out from under the sun and weather, and that’s kind of where we’re at right now,” said Frickey.
No date is set yet for the construction phase, but they hope to begin soon.
Once construction has begun, they will continually work on the park with the goal to make it the best dog park in the state of Idaho.
“Over the next year or two years of just continuing to make improvements and make it better,” said Holm.
