South Loop Dog Park Action Cooperative

Thanks to Stephanie, Janet, Pam, Doug, & Katie from Soggy Paws for their help with the cleanup of Coliseum Park Dog Run on Saturday May 8th.

We made a couple of improvements to the gravel containment, both on a trial basis.  Window screening was installed along the fence at the north end of the park:

Screening is about 2' high along the fence, and flashed under the gravel.

And, plastic fencing grid was installed along the fence at the south end of the park.

The mesh is about 2' high. The little 'blip's are cable ties.

We’ll keep an eye on these installations to see whether they hold up over time and weather, and whether they do the job they’re supposed to do – keep the gravel from those areas inside the park.  Longer term, we’re thinking of wrapping the whole park in one or the other barrier to keep gravel in and to keep trash out.  If you have a better idea, please let us know.

We tried to power wash the surface, as well.  Unfortunately, your power-washers didn’t really know what they were doing, so the job is incomplete.  Overall the place is much cleaner, but next time, we’ll do it right.  (We’ll be using the power washer during the Grant Bark Park cleanup next Sunday May 16th, and will probably do a much better job!)

We also moved the storage shed and sand bin into the enclosed area at the south end of the park.  We purchased a 75 foot hose, which, thanks to the CPD plumbing department’s installation of a faucet off the water fountain, should prove to be quite useful in the future.  We’ll be installing a configurable combination lock on the shed to keep our materials safe.  You’re welcome to guess what the combination will be.

Thanks Pam!

Some lessons learned:

• Powerwashing takes a long time.  If we are going to do this properly, it will probably require volunteers to work different parts of the park on different days.
• Because the drainage in the dog run is incredibly poorly constructed, there’s no way to escape having pools of dirty water around each of the drains at the end of the day. That means that there’s a need for a ‘second shift’ to cleanup that mess after it dries up.
• It is impossible to power wash the gravel in the patches at Coliseum Park dog run.  It is unconfined and will just go flying.
• There is no point simply replacing the gravel in the patches;  if the SLDogPAC is going to pay for additional gravel replacement, we will have to require that there be some means to constrain the gravel in those patches, as has been discussed elsewhere in this blog.
• We wonder if the poo bag dispenser is fostering a ‘poo bag dependency’.  When the bag dispenser was out for a few days last week, an abnormally large number of orphan poos were left behind at the park.  This may be a phenomenon worth discussing in the future. Share your bags? Call or tweet? You know what to do.
• There sure are a lot of cigarette butts left behind in the gravel… a dog & a smoke?

We’re planning a Spring Cleanup at Coliseum Park for this Saturday May 8th, at 8 AM.

Here’s the proposed task list:

a)    General

1. Pick up poo
2. Restock bag dispenser
3. General sweeping & trash
4. Trash in EL support ‘pockets’
5. Rake pea gravel
6. Gravel shoveling back to gravel areas
7. Powerwash hard surfaces
8. Powerwash gravel
9. Install fencing fabric
10. Block off area around drain
11. Resurface area around north drain
12. Fencing spot repairs (e.g. where torn, use wire)
13. Remove nanny sign (‘Pick Up’)
14. Rust remover or steel wool on water fountain
15. Remove the ‘DogPAC’ banner
16. Remove old GotAMinutes and replace with new GotAMinutes
17. Cleanup area outside but bordering the DFA fence
18. Spray clean benches

b)    Possible

1. Paint water fountain.
2. Cut the chain lock on the ‘Shed’
3. Move the ‘Shed’ into the Sequestered area and re-lock
4. Repair the fence support cup on the South end

c)    Planning & Discussion

1. Plan installation of concrete/stone shelf at south end gravel area
2. Discuss resurfacing the gravel triangles by the water fountain
3. Plan device to prevent small dog escape at the gate-gaps

A couple of issues:

• We will be supplying a powerwasher, but I don’t think any of us knows how to use it yet.  Hijinks ensue.
• We want to install fencing ‘fabric’ to prevent gravel drift out of the dog run.  But don’t really know what to purchase yet.
• None of us knows anything concrete about asphalt surface repair.  We’ll talk to the guys and gals at the big box store.

So… if you think you could help in planning what we need to do on Saturday, yes, we need your help, and welcome it.

Comments, call, tweet, or email!

The Chicago Park District guidelines for DFA committees, including the South Loop Dog PAC, are explicitly laid out in the CPD DFA guidelines document.  A copy of the  document, dated 4.22.2008, has been uploaded to the website and it is available for download.  The new guidelines page outlines the responsibilities of the Dog PAC with respect to maintenance of the Grant Bark Park and the Coliseum Park DFA.   It’s up to us, folks!

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