Dec 032010
 

These are images of preliminary dog park design proposals for the 16th & Wabash park that were recently discussed publicly for the first time.

These are works in progress and they present two different visions – Plan A: a curvilinear droplet of a dog park surrounded by people friendly* pathways and defined by grassy berms. Plan B: a rectilinear block of a park that plays off the diagonal arrangement of different surfaces – artificial grass, decomposed granite and asphalt.

Public areas at the north end of the park are being designed to facilitate access by True Rock Ministries for church events.

The current space is about 1.1 acres in total (click for full size; image is to scale with the drawings):

Plan A (click for full size):

Plan B (click for full size):

Note the inclusion of ‘small dog’ and ‘large dog’ areas, and the use of various surface materials in the park.

Also note the inclusion of a ‘concession area’ in both plans.  In plan A, this area would be associated directly with a restaurant being developed to open in the building south of the park.

Alderman Fioretti’s office is soliciting input: ‘For more information and to make comments, please email the project team at: 1629Wabash@gmail.com.’

We at the South Loop Dog PAC would like to hear your ideas, as well.  Feel free to comment here or to email us your comments and ideas.

We’ll continue to discuss the issues raised by this project on this website as the project develops.


*Not ‘resident friendly’ as is stated (and here) in contrast to ‘dog friendly’!  Dog owners are residents of the South Loop.

 Posted by on December 3, 2010

  14 Responses to “Dog Park Proposals for 16th & Wabash”

  1. Commenting test.

  2. […] gotten an update about the design of Fred Anderson Park from Michael Lange, the project manager at the Chicago Park […]

  3. […] occupies only  about 45% of the ~1.1 acre site.  This is less than the original design proposal presented two years ago, but is certainly an improvement over the revision that was presented last […]

  4. […] for the Chicago Park District to present their plans for development of the new Fred Anderson Park (16th Wabash Park) and Dog Friendly Area […]

  5. […] new dog park to be built on Wabash south of 16th St.  We’ve blogged about it a couple of times (here, here, and here), too. The park was proposed by Alderman Fioretti, and the site is expected to be […]

  6. […] plan at that time was fairly well received – the overall park area was allocated 60% as an area for South Loop […]

  7. […] Below are concept drawings that were released in late 2010.  Find more information on the park on the South Loop Dog PAC website. […]

  8. A lot of places around the country have small dog areas (Pooch Park in Skokie has a gated small dog area, for example), and IMHO they are a good idea, if there’s enough space available to create parks that are big enough for each. Dogs have teeth, and they have a prey drive, and the size differential between big and small can be disasterous, even if the larger dog is playing or simply giving a correction. This year in Chicago I know of several serious incidents at Grant Bark Park and at Montrose Dog Beach (see their website, mondog.org), and there probably have been others. In fact, at the recently opened West Loop Dog Park, which was also shepherded by the Alderman’s office, there was a bad incident in which a small pup was seriously hurt on ‘opening day’. This may be motivating the inclusion of a small dog area in the Wabash park from the get-go.

  9. I’m a little confused about the small and large dog areas. Is there really a need for this? Can’t say I’ve ever seen a dog park that separates dogs based on their size. If you bring your small dog into the large dog area or vice versa will you be shunned? Just curious, since I sometimes bring a 25lb and 55lb dog into the dog run at the same time.

  10. This would be so awesome! I’m a fan of both options… maybe the first one more so, but I’m very excited to see this come to fruition!

  11. You should also be able to comment as a Facebook user.

  12. Commenting is now handled using DISQUS. Please alert us to issues!

  13. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dog Food Recipes, South Loop Dog PAC. South Loop Dog PAC said: SLDogPAC Blog: Dog Park Proposals for 16th & Wabash http://bit.ly/gvVXh1 […]

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