Puppy playing on quad. Photo by James Kyung

This month, the Champaign Park District is opening a new park. But unlike traditional parks that sport swing sets and jungle gyms, this one is designed uniquely for dogs. Champaign’s new dog park, aptly named the Champaign Bark District, opens with a ribbon-cutting at 9 a.m. June 13, and is expected to be met with much enthusiasm from dog-owners in Champaign.

“[It’s a] wide open space where [owners’] dogs can run off-lead,” said Laura Auteberry, the marketing and development director at the Champaign Park District. She said the park gives dogs an opportunity to interact with other dogs and humans. Similarly, dog owners can meet other pet enthusiasts.

Encompassing seven acres, the park is located near the corner of Windsor and Rising roads in Champaign and is surrounded by a four-foot fence. It also includes separate areas for large and small dogs, a double-gated entry area and dog waste stations.

Auteberry described the driving force behind this project as “a large group of residents who really wanted to see that happen in Champaign.” Urbana already has a dog park, but Champaign residents were looking for something more conveniently located and pushed for a park in Champaign. Auteberry said the Champaign Park District used Urbana’s dog park as a model when planning the new park, and the facilities are somewhat similar. But the Champaign Park District also did “a lot of research nationwide,” explained Auteberry, which she said was needed to better understand the special considerations that go into such a park.

But for the group of residents who await the opening of the dog park, all the research and planning are bound to pay off. “That’s what prompted this whole project,” Auteberry said on the high demand for the dog park from Champaign dog owners. “We had a group of residents who got this whole ball rolling by doing fundraising to help purchase some of the amenities.” In fact, the park wasn’t scheduled to open until much later, but a group of dedicated dog owners worked to ensure the park’s earlier opening. To push forward the project of the dog park, eager pet owners did fundraising to purchase some of the amenities in the park, including a two-tiered drinking fountain that contains separate spouts for dogs and their owners.

With the opening less than a week away, interested pet owners can learn more about the park at ttp://www.champaignparkdistrict.com. Membership is $20 for one dog for Champaign residents, and the membership lasts one calendar year.