SOUTHWICK — If all goes according to plans, the Friends of the Southwick Dog Park Inc., a newly established nonprofit, will open a dog park on a 3.5-acre property that will provide access to the rail trail and parking.
“It’s going to be called the Dillinger Dog Park,” said Diane Gale, who with Sarah Ann Leavy, is leading the effort to build the park.
It’s being named after the cherished dog, Dillinger, of a town couple who have pledged a “substantial donation” to the effort, Gale said a couple of days after making a formal announcement about the project during a meeting of the town’s Parks and Recreation Commission last month.
It was Leavy, a former Southwick volunteer firefighter, who first approached the town’s Parks and Recreation Commission seeking its blessing to start private fundraising for a dog park in town last October.
After being told by the commission to “go for it,” Leavy started preliminary efforts, including setting up a social media page dedicated to the project.
At a later meeting, Gale told the commission that she had gathered a “small army of volunteers” as passionate as she and Leavy were about the project. That small army is made of over 100 people and businesses who have pledged to help, Leavy said. They attracted media attention, which brought in more volunteers.
“That article [in The Westfield News] was when it blew everything up,” Leavy said.
She said it was then people and business reached out offering help and donations, and not just from Southwick. Supporters include businesses and people in Westfield, the Hilltowns and other nearby communities, Leavy said.
Since then, the group has identified the property for the park, set up the Friends corporation and secured its nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service.
“That’s a big key in getting grants,” Gale said about the tax code status.
Leavy added that while it takes from five to six months for the IRS to grant nonprofit status, the group has been issued a tax identification number that it can now use when applying for grants to fund the park’s construction.
The proposed location — which Gale said the group isn’t ready to identify publicly — has access to the rail trail and the public water system. Leavy hinted that it is also near an area with several places to eat or enjoy a cool drink.
The plan is to build a parking lot in addition to the park, Gale said, describing it as “dual-purpose recreation” for the town, also serving as a trailhead for the rail trail.
The park will have separate areas for small and large dogs, and Gale said she also hopes to include an area for dogs to be separated when they first visit the park to get them acclimated.
It is also being designed to be as “low maintenance as possible.” Gale said upkeep will essentially involve emptying the refuse bins on a regular schedule, and flushing the water lines before winter sets in, then turning the system back on in the spring.
There will be no lights, so it will open from dawn to dusk, Gale said.
Hard-shell fixtures for shade and benches for sitting are also planned, she said, adding that families can have the benches named in honor of a loved one or cherished pet for yet-to-be-decided levels of donations.
She said there are still a few details that must be addressed, most involving zoning issues.
The first phase of the project, Gale said, will not include gym equipment, but as donations and fundraising efforts continue once it’s open, those items will be added.
To raise money, Gale said there are plans to build a memorial wall or rainbow bridge where pet owners can purchase a space to remember a cherished pet.
Leavy wanted to thank Tractor Supply Co. in town for letting them use space to get the word out and solicit donations. During Leavy’s first presentation to the commission, she said the estimated cost was about $50,000. She said that estimate might have increased because of the donations offered so far.
For those who want to make a donation, the Friends has set up a GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/f/Dog-Rescue-and-Rehab-LLC, with a fundraising goal of $5,000. There are already donations of nearly $500.
Gale, who serves on the Select Board but is working on this project as a private citizen and not an official representative, made it clear that the group will build the park at no cost to taxpayers, using only grants, donations and fundraising efforts.
For more information, visit www.swickdogpark.com or email swickdogpark@gmail.com or call 413-455-9496.
