City Suggests Fenced Dog Park, Community Gardens at Four Mile Run Park

Park users are encouraged to comment and state their preferences on recommendations included in a new draft improvement plan for Arlandria park.

Alexandria’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Activities is proposing new community gardens, a fenced-in dog park, new trails and many more amenities to Four Mile Run Park as part of its draft improvement plan. Park planners have spent the last nine months identifying a series of recommendations for each of the city’s large parks (those 20 acres or larger). Parks staff incorporated input from community meetings and online surveys for a list of suggestions. “We tried to balance needs in all of the parks,” said Dana Wedeles, a park planner with the city. After analyzing the feedback, 13 recommendations are proposed for Four Mile Run Park on top of three other recommendations included in the Four Mile Run Restoration Plan. …

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Del Ray Dog Group Spruces Up Simpson Park

Group of volunteers plants tree, installs bench in honor of Arthur Tucker.

Twenty Del Ray residents and other volunteers spent Nov. 4 cleaning up and sprucing up the dog park at Simpson Stadium Park and planted a weeping willow. The cleanup was organized by members of the Del Ray Dog Owners Group. Local company Personal Touch Landscaping, headed by Steve Jackson, delivered the willow and donated several hours to the cleanup effort. Alexandria maintenance staff brought in truckloads of gravel and assisted volunteers as they went about the maintenance work. A new memorial bench in remembrance of Arthur Tucker, a long time dog park user who passed away unexpectedly in July, was also dedicated on Nov. 4. Members of Tucker’s family and park volunteers gathered around the new bench and read the memorial plaque, which …

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New Monroe Avenue Dog Park in the Works

Park will be part of the Potomac Yard parks network.

A new dog park is in the works for Monroe Avenue not far from where the current Simpson Stadium Dog Park is located. Project planners with Alexandria’s Planning Department and Land Planning & Design Associates made a presentation about the park to the Del Ray Citizens Association last week at Mount Vernon Community School. The 1-acre, fenced-in park will be located on the south side of Monroe Avenue between a yet-to-be-built Dominion Virginia Power substation and a new multi-family development. Amenities will include separate inbound and outbound gates on both sides of the park, pressure-fed water fountains, benches, deciduous trees, shrubbery and a bike rack. Planners will place temporary fencing around the trees inside the park to allow …

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RJ

2:26 pm on Wednesday, March 27, 2013

I wonder how many people are driving that live less than a 1/2 mile from the park.   more ›

Off The Leash

Full Access to Simpson Stadium Dog Park is Restored

The fences that restricted access to the upper area of the dog park have been removed

Simpson Stadium Dog Park is back to its full size. In February, the dog park got a big expansion as the fences were pushed back and dogs were allowed to roam around the upper bowl of the park. Then, toward the end of April, that new area was closed off so workers could even out the ground and plant grass seed. Until the middle of June, orange mesh fencing lined the area, teasing dogs by giving them glimpses of what they could have. Actually, “dogs got through pretty regularly,” said one dog owner. Well, regardless, the orange mesh fencing has been removed and the park has returned to its expanded size. “This space is huge!” remarked Katie, as her dog Lilly roamed around the park finding other dogs to play with. “This dog goes crazy for …

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