Alan Lewis believes exercise is good for him and his dog.
But until recently, he and his American bulldog, Sheba, had to travel about three miles from their south Sacramento home to Elk Grove Regional Park in Elk Grove to work out.
"I would have to drive for about 15 minutes, dealing with the traffic, to get to the park," Lewis said.
Not anymore. A week ago, the pair found a new park within two blocks of their residence – the Jacinto Creek Dog Park, at West Stockton Boulevard and Melville Drive in North Laguna Creek. The park, completed by the city of Sacramento about a month ago, has all the amenities a dog and his master could want – starting with 2 acres of off-leash running area surrounded by a 5-foot-tall wire fence. The park also has an 85-foot tunnel designed for dogs to run through, while their masters sit on nearby benches. And the park, which is immediately west of Highway 99, even has a bulletin board, on which "lost dog" messages have already been posted.
"This is about the best thing that could happen in this community," Lewis, 38, said Friday as he and Sheba completed their first visit to Jacinto Creek Dog Park. "Now we can walk to the park. It's cool."
Lewis added: "You should have been here earlier, when there were at least eight dogs and their masters. The dogs were exercising like kids, running around and playing. Everyone was people- and dog-friendly.
"This was a good experience for both of us," Lewis said. "We'll be back."
The park will have its official grand opening with a three-hour party that begins at 11 a.m. Saturday. The event, sponsored by City Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell, will include clowns, a bounce house for children and free hot dogs and sodas.
Pannell said the park "was desperately needed in this area."
Construction of nearby homes dictated the need for it, Pannell said during a visit to the dog park on Friday.
The need for the park was reinforced at community meetings held by the city's Parks and Recreation Department over two years, she said.
"People said they wanted an off-leash dog park," Pannell said. "When you build so many houses, you have to build a park.
"What you see here is what we came up with."
Park development in Jacinto Creek was done in two phases. Phase 1, completed in May 2006, created a 6-acre park that includes a full-size soccer-baseball field, a tot lot, walkways, a group picnic area and drinking fountains. Phase 2, completed about a month ago, stretched the existing park another 5 acres to West Stockton Boulevard. Besides the dog park, it includes four fitness stations for senior citizens and people with disabilities, walkways and a bantam soccer field, which is smaller than regulation size. The total price of Phase 2 was $600,000. The cost of Phase 1 was unavailable at press time. Now that the entire project has been completed, one may actually say that "humans have their side and dogs have theirs," said Hindolo Brima, a spokesman for the city's Parks and Recreation Department. The dog park is open from sunrise to sunset.
Call The Bee's Edgar Sanchez, (916) 321-1088.
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