Elmhurst taking steps toward first dog park
The Dog Days of August may live up to their name this summer in Elmhurst.
That's when the park district hopes to get its initial peek at a conceptual plan for its first off-leash dog park to be built at the 3.4-acre site of a former trailer park at 0S761 Old York Road.
The park board on Monday agreed to pay Plainfield-based Upland Design Ltd. $22,600 to analyze the site, collect public input and prepare preliminary designs for the park. Funding will come from the district's capital budget, which includes $100,000 for engineering and architectural services in fiscal year 2018.
Executive Director James Rogers said there will be "multiple opportunities for public input" during the planning process this summer that likely will include open houses and an online survey.
The proposed dog park would be the first visible manifestation of the district's Vision 2020 plan based on a community needs assessment survey and other studies conducted in 2016 and 2017.
Residents identified several priorities for outdoor facilities as part of that long-range planning process, including dog parks, walking trails and natural areas.
The district is focusing its effort on the Old York Road property, which it acquired last November as a replacements for 2.9 acres of Golden Meadows Park the city needed for stormwater detention to relieve area flooding issues.
Rogers said it's too early to determine exactly how much construction of a dog park might cost.
"We're just starting to examine the site," he said, "and we don't know all of what is involved yet."
The property includes a small management office and a two-car garage that may or may not have to be removed, he said. It also features a number of invasive plant species that will be eliminated and some mature trees that probably will remain.
There are a few houses nearby, Rogers said, but officials hope dog noise will not be an issue because there's a wooded buffer between the park and homes and because of the "white road noise" coming from nearby I-88 and Roosevelt Road.
The district hasn't decided exactly what features the park should offer, he said, but officials already are discussing the need for separate areas for small and large dogs, what kind of surface should be used, whether it should include water features and what kind of access it should provide users.
Those decisions largely will depend on the plans Upland prepares after studying the property and gathering input from residents.
The district invited 16 companies to submit requests for proposals for the design project and, using eight criteria, narrowed the field to three.
Upland stood out, officials said, because of its track record in creating "inviting spaces" and public parks - including dog facilities similar in scope to the Old York Road location.
The company, which also has a Chicago office, has designed dog parks for the Cook County Forest Preserve District and prepared a master plan for Southwest Community Park in Naperville.
"Staff is confident Upland Design possesses the passion and knowledge necessary to create an outdoor space that will engage people, invite a sense of exploration, encourage recreation and promote fun," Rogers and Director of Facilities Angela Ferrentino wrote in a memo to the park board.