Kaukauna pet exercise park on track

Two-phase project making steady progress since July

By J.E. Espino Current staff writer November 16, 2005

KAUKAUNA — It makes no difference that the year is ending or that the weather is cooling down.

Recreation Director Gary Landreman's promise still stands with the Kaukauna Dog Park. His much-anticipated pet project, the exercise park, currently under development at the Agricultural Park, will open before the year is out.

Since the Common Council's OK in July to move forward with construction plans over two phases at the 13-acre site off of Farmland Drive, progress has been somewhat slow, but steady.

Phase I, which takes in about 5 acres, is nearing completion. Fence is being installed around its perimeters. A dozen to 15 trees remain to be transplanted from Commercial Crossing, formerly known as the Fox Valley Greyhound Park.

Fund-raising opportunities, such as the selling of advertising and installation of a beverage machine and donations tube, are being ironed out.

"The more time I spend out there, the more I'm enthusiastic about this dog park," Landreman said. "If we take our time, this site has the potential to become very popular."

The key is to provide opportunities for all tastes.

For instance, a section of the land will be gated off for small dogs only. A retention pond covering about 8 acres will also be fenced in, though access will be provided to owners who don't mind their pets romping in water.

"Pets have got to have a place to play, and as we become more urban there are fewer people who have properties large enough for their pets to get adequate exercise," said Kaukauna resident Tracy Rogers.

He and his wife, Leslie Crawford have been on a two-year quest with a group to make a park for their four-legged friends a reality in the community. Efforts, they say, are slowly coming to fruition.

Casey and Isabel, their two yellow Labradors, will soon have a place to go that is closer to home.

As progress is made at the park, updates get posted on a Web site the couple built. Sometime ahead they are looking to turn the site over to the city.

The entrance and parking lot are complete, and time is still at hand to transplant those trees.

"I love it," Crawford said. "It's going to accommodate everybody."

To make the project whole, she is hopeful the recreation department will consider installing lights in the area at some point.

The final word is not in on how the park will operate — strictly through contributions and advertising revenue or user fees, particularly for non-residents using the city-owned property.

Officials have said the city has invested more than $150,000 on the property, about $20,000 per acre and in the excavation of the pond.

Landreman says he is optimistic the park can pay for itself. Additionally, being the lone park operating year-round can put the city in a winning situation, cash-wise.

As the Outagamie County Pet Exercise Area on French Road, off of County OO closes for the winter months, those users may want a place to go. It is estimated that park brings in $600 to $800 in contributions through a donation box.

While costs were kept to a minimum, with almost all work done in house for Phase I, Phase II, which takes in the pond, presents a financial challenge.

Early estimates placed the installation of culverts and a walking bridge at $25,000 to $30,000.

A start date won't be available until enough funds are collected.

"Once the Outagamie site closes down, all the people that are regulars there will essentially be moving over this way," Landreman said.

Kaukauna resident Ellen Verstegen sees the scenario as her segue to launch fund-raising efforts.

"I hope people realize that it's going to be so crowded that we're going to need the rest of the land," she said.

Take the Outagamie Park, which became almost a daily ritual since it opened. By the time, they leave at 9 a.m. there are more than 35 cars at the parking lot, she said.

The park's success is fundamental and she doesn't doubt it will come to Kaukauna.

"We need more than one in Kaukauna," she laughed.

For Verstegen, its opening also means a cutback on her frequent trips with her two pets, a coonhound and miniature dachshund, to the Oshkosh park during winter and Two Rivers during summer for swims.

Rogers and Crawford look to the venture as a way the community can provide services to all citizens in a community, particularly those left out of the family-oriented activities.

"We'd like to see this community progress," Rogers said.

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