Wednesday, July 10, 2002
After a little over a year of discussion, planning and public hearings, the Town of Vienna is almost ready to open its first off-leash dog park at Vienna’s Moorefield Park.
"It’s finally almost ready to open," said Vienna Town Council member Vincent Olson, who originally proposed the park. "My daughter went by [Sunday] to see if it was ready. It wasn’t ready, but she said it looked really nice."
This Saturday, July 13, will be the grand opening of the park, located at 700 Courthouse Road, next to Nottoway Park.
The opening ceremony will begin at 9 a.m., with dog licenses offered until 10:30.
Dogs are allowed in the park as long as they are licensed by either the Town of Vienna or Fairfax County. "[The park] turned out really nice," said Cathy Salgado, director of the town Parks and Recreation Department. "We had an Eagle Scout candidate take on the dog park as his service project."
The Boy Scout installed a water fountain, an obstacle course, several benches and a park sign. The park also includes doggie-bag receptacles and a mulch surface. There are double-gate entrances to prevent dogs from escaping the chain link enclosure. The park was paid for with both county and town money. Vienna budgeted $10,000 for the park, and Fairfax threw in $5,000. Salgado said the park ended up costing "a little over $10,000."
The area of the park is 13,500 square feet (90 feet by 150 feet), and the surrounding fence is five feet high.
"It’s a nice area for it," Olson said. "There are plenty of shade trees, as opposed to the Blake Lane park, which is in a hot field."
Aggressive dogs can be asked to leave the park and owners are responsible for cleaning up dog waste. Other rules include a 16-year age requirement for dog handlers, a maximum of two dogs per handler, and a requirement that owners must fill any holes their dogs dig. The park will stay open from 7 a.m. until dark. Other rules will be posted at the park. Salgado said she is a volunteer friends of the dog park group, to help enforce park rules.
Anyone who would like to join the friends of the dog park group, or who has questions about the park, can call the Vienna Parks and Recreation Department at 703-255-6360.