PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Progress on a proposed dog park in the city has been slowed by a lack of fundraising and bad weather.
It has been more than a year and half since the dog park for Peace Park was proposed in response to Caribou building what is now the Sincock Dog Park in 2019. Mantle Lake Park in Presque Isle allows dogs but they need to be leashed at all times.
The idea for the Peace Park Dog Park came through discussions with the Recreation and Parks Department and its advisory board toward the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022. Presque Isle residents had asked about the possibility of a dog park in the city after the Caribou dog park had opened, according to Gene Cronin, Recreation and Park Department Director.
“It’s nice to have a fenced area where you can let your dog off leash to run and play and not have to worry about the dog getting away,” Cronin said.
Presque Isle’s city council approved the Peace Park Dog Park being located at Parsons Street.
Much of the dog park project’s costs will be paid by fundraising through the Presque Isle Recreation and Parks Department, with an original goal of $40,000.
The amount raised so far is around $20,000 through local and community donations.
An end date for the project hasn’t been set yet and is based upon receiving adequate donations from the community.
The city helped with putting in a new parking lot at a cost of around $12,000 over the past summer by supplying the materials.
The Presque Isle National Guard pitched in with labor through its Innovative Readiness Training program that picks community projects to keep their engineering skills up to date. The PI guard unit is a heavy equipment group that used bulldozers and backhoes for the new dog park parking lot.
“The project itself goes in stages, so this year is just the parking lot,” said Eryhn Yeater, first lieutenant and platoon leader of the 185th engineer support company.
The parking lot construction began on June 2 and was scheduled to be finished by the end of July. But summer rains delayed it being finished until September, Cronin said.
The next step is putting up fencing of two different sizes for the two areas of the dog park. One section would be for small dogs and the other for big dogs that might not play well together. A walking trail loop will also be added.
Local contractors will work on the fence but the Recreation and Parks Department hasn’t put out a bid for the dog park yet.
“Once we raise the funds then we will put together a completion timeline,” Cronin said.
