Dog park a bone of contention for historical society
"Some members are very much against it. Other members have a wait-and-see attitude."
Some members of the Asbury Park Historical Society are concerned about the dog park that’s coming to town, according to a recent letter to the editor published in the Coaster.
“Not everybody in the historical society is against it, although everybody has concerns,” APHS president Don Stine said today. “Some members are very much against it. Other members have a wait-and-see attitude.”
The dog park is being installed in the easternmost quadrant of Library Square Park [pictured above], located near the central business district between Grand Avenue and Heck Street. The park is divided into four parts by diagonal sidewalks. A fountain sits in the middle, and most of the park is covered with grass and vegetation.
Dog park proponents have said it will probably be in place by later summer or early fall. The program is set to terminate in June 2013, although the council can renew it by ordinance.
The APHS has played a large role in helping to beautify the park in the past.
“We have raised over $60,000 to restore the fountain and lights” in Library Square Park, the letter published in both newspapers reads. “Plantings and benches have been purchased and people have once again enjoyed the park.”
Historical society members have attended council meetings, imploring the council to beef up security in the park in an effort to prevent vandalism. Proponents of the dog park have argued the presence of pets and their self-policing owners will naturally decrease the crime rate there.
“We have been promised surveillance and cameras from the city to prevent vandalism but this was not achieved,” the APHS letter reads. “We need to work together to support efforts to restore our parks and valued buildings and artifacts.”
The group’s main concerns with the dog park are twofold — animal waste and the visibility of leftover fencing equipment should the park be discontinued.
“The historical society has requested if this park is going to go through, that any concrete footings used to install the fence be recessed several inches below the ground so that if the fence is removed, the footings can be covered with dirt and remain unseen,” Stine said. “The last thing we want is them to take this fence out and then there’s this dock of concrete footings around the perimeter of that portion of the park.”
The historical society understands the dog park has only been instituted as a pilot program thus far, Stine said.
“We just want the aesthetic appeal of the park to be preserved,” he said.
To read about the dog park pilot program, click here. To read about other citizens who oppose the program, click here.
[CORRECTION: A previous edition of this story erroneously stated this letter was published in the Asbury Park Press. The letter was published only in the Coaster. The Asbury Park Sun regrets this error.]
