The jury is still out on whether a dedicated area for man’s best friends will be part of the amenities as the Arlington County government plans a major renovation at Gateway Park in Rosslyn.
In a survey conducted as part of a second round of community input on three design proposals, a dog run came in 10th among priority features sought by the public in online responses – albeit the split between the feature most frequently sought (a woodland walk) and the dog park at 10th was just nine percentage points (36% of respondents for the woodlands, 27% for the dog area). A dog-park area was higher on the ranking among those participating in in-person feedback opportunities.
Numerous respondents said the county government needed to provide more space for dogs and less for a proposed 4,000-person outdoor-events space on the site.
“Rosslyn has a very active dog community, and we would like to have dedicated and large enough space for them to roam freely,” one of the respondents noted.
The latest round of feedback was gathered from late June to late July; more than 700 people participated in online forums and community events, county officials said in releasing the data on Sept. 11.
(For details, see the Website at https://tinyurl.com/gatewaypark2024.)
In addition to dog-park boosters, proponents of pickleball also are engaged in a full-court press to have their desires included in the final proposal that is expected to be delivered to County Board members by the end of the year.
Under the current timelines, a final design for the park would be completed in 2025, with construction beginning in 2026.
