Dog park to begin ‘softly’
‘Grand Opening’ planned for later date
The new dog park in South Clinton will open for pooches and their owners at 4 p.m. Friday, officials said on Monday.
It will be a “soft” opening, with a full-scale grand-opening ceremony to follow within a few weeks.
Work began this past summer on the Clinton Dog Park, off Carden Farm Road, on land along the Clinch River that the city obtained from the Tennessee Valley Authority more than two decades ago.
Clinton City Manager Roger Houck said in mid-August that the dog park was only a few weeks away from opening. It includes fenced areas of about three acres for large dogs and two acres for small dogs.
Two roads have been built leading into the park, and the parking lot has been paved.
Mayor Scott Burton said the dog park is on a 17-acre tract the city got in a trade from TVA, and is being paid for by a $25,000 grant from the Randy Boyd Foundation in Knoxville.
“We’re also planning to put in a nine-hole disc golf course, which will eventually expand to 18 holes, and there will be walking trails throughout the property,” Burton said. “We’ll also look at putting in some pickleball courts.”
Clinton Recreation Director Jason Brown said there is a Kentucky split-rail fence around the dog park, which includes a common area at the entrance that gives access to the separate areas for large and small dogs.
There will be a water fountain and a dog fountain in the common area, along with a “frost-proof” water spigot people can use to wash their dogs down if they get too dirty in the park, Brown said.
“I even found an old fire hydrant that we’ve fixed up and painted candy-apple red to install in the common area,” he said. He said the hydrant will be just for looks and for the dogs to – well, you know. It won’t be connected to a water line.
Each of the doggie areas will have small shelters with benches and sheet-metal roofs for shade, and Brown some trees are being planted “for natural shade.” He’s also planning to put up some birdhouses.
Part of the park has been used for years by the city as the launch site for fireworks shows on Independence Day and other special times, Brown said.
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said Monday that she visited the new dog park over the weekend, and said it was going to be a great asset for the area.
“I’m very excited about this,” she said. “We’ve needed something like this for a long time – a place to let our dogs run off the leash.
“Thanks to Randy Boyd for the funding dollars,” Frank said. “Projects such as this advance our community as a great place to live.”
Eventually, walking trails will go around the entire 17 acres, and will have a connector to the dog park area, Brown said. Part of the trail will follow along the river.
“We’re looking at setting up a pet expo with some humane societies next spring,” Houck said.
Brown said there will be some “UT orange” decorations incorporated into the dog park, including one large and one small statue of the University of Tennessee team mascot Smoky, the blue-tick hound.
There are two benches for the dog park that were donated by the city’s 4-H clubs, which did a bottle-cap project that resulted in them getting the benches, made of recycled plastic, from a company in Indiana, Brown said.
Brown also has other ideas for the rest of the property.
“I believe we could do some festivals here,” he said.
