By Matt Wiley
After more than a year of fund raising and working with the City of Tampa, work officially is under way at the New Tampa Rotary Dog Park in Tampa Palms, which could be open in about two months.
During a groundbreaking ceremony on March 2, which was right after we went to press with our previous New Tampa issue, members of the New Tampa Rotary Club (which meets Fridays at 7 a.m. at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club), Dist. 7 City of Tampa Council member Lisa Montelione, city staff, and (of course) some furry, four-legged friends broke ground on the future dog park at the corner of Commerce Park Blvd. and the entrance to New Tampa Community Park, which is a partnership between the club and the city.
“We’re extremely excited to break ground on the New Tampa Rotary Dog Park,” said chair of the Rotary Club of New Tampa Dog Park committee Joyce Gunter. “We hope to open by the end of April, weather permitting.”
Although the property was still covered in brush and trees at the time of the ceremony, a bulldozer has been hard at work clearing the site for the 0.64-acre dog park (photo top left), which is estimated to cost $50,000 to build. The New Tampa Rotary successfully raised half of that amount and the City of Tampa matched it dollar-for-dollar. To raise the $25,000, the club sold customizable bricks that will bear the donors’ names and also will make up the sidewalk that will lead into the park. The sales of bricks are now closed, as the club sold all 251 spaces it had available.
“It’s been about a year and a half since (the club) came up with this idea,” said New Tampa Rotary immediate past president Peter Gambacorta. “This has been a big service project for our club. This is a branding project that will be here for a very long time to promote Rotary and service above self.”
Gunter also noted during the ceremony that Montelione was instrumental in getting the park project moving.
“Dogs are an important part of my life,” Montelione said. “Having this dog park here serves a lot of purposes. Just like people, dogs need to socialize. It’s also important to have a place for dog owners to socialize. Dog parks are an integral part of (the city’s) Parks and Recreation department.”
Montelione commended New Tampa’s original Rotary Club, which was chartered in 1985 with 63 members (the largest club ever chartered in Rotary’s Southeast district) on their work in the city’s District 7.
“From the four-legged to the two-legged, its an important role that you (the club) play in New Tampa,” Montelione said. “We wouldn’t be the same in this community without your hard work.”
The park will be enclosed with a four-foot-tall chain-link fence, as well as be equipped with benches, picnic tables, pet drinking fountains and dog waste receptacles. The park will feature a 21,887-sq.-ft. area for large dogs and a separately fenced, 5,259-sq.-ft. area for smaller dogs.
For more information, please visit RotaryDogPark.com.
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