By Brooklynn Wong
Though the rain tried, it could not keep La Palma’s dogs and their owners away from the city’s “Bark in the Park” event on Saturday.
The event was a test-run for a dog park in the city. The same thing will happen this coming Saturday, Jan. 19, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at 7821 Walker St., near the civic center.
The simulation is part of an ongoing process for the city to test and develop a location for a municipal dog park. Four different locations were being looked at initially, but after further research and looking into the financial impacts, city staff recommended somewhere around city buildings as an optimal site.
The pop-up dog park over these two Saturdays is in the area of Central Park, by the City of La Palma Recreation & Community Services building.
This site was chosen because if a dog park was permanently set up there, no existing infrastructure would need to be removed, it has a low pre-development cost and shade trees are already in place there.
About an hour in on Saturday, about ten dogs were happily playing in the light rain, as their owners stood and chatted.
City employees were also on hand to provide water and waste bags, and to gather feedback.
So far, the feedback seems to be all positive, with one attendee from the day saying, “what a great experience! Go show your support! Go next weekend if you missed today.”
In the event of rain, the event Saturday, Jan. 19, will be cancelled, though as of now no rain is in the forecast, city officials said.
