By Steph Greegor - The Other Paper
It’s official. Worthington City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a good, old-fashioned dog park in the trendy suburb.
There’s just one problem, though. No one knows exactly where to put it.
“We’re working with the parks and recreation commission—there’s not a lot of green space,” said councilman Mike Duffey. “The question is, if we can find two or three acres of green space, is it a good place for a dog park?”
Duffey said a centrally located park near Rt. 161 and High Street would be ideal, but they’ll take what they can get.
“If someone had 5 acres of land to donate...,” he hinted. “The bottom line is we want a dog park, no matter where it is.”
“It’s a quality-of-life thing.”
The dogged effort to let Worthington’s Lassies run free was led by Jennifer Lyon, who organized W.O.O.F.—Worthington Organized Off-Leash Friends—about a year ago.
“She’s been tireless,” said Duffey.
The group started last year with 35 members and has grown to 248 members, raising more than $2,000 in private donations for the development of the dog park. The group received its non-profit 501(c)3 status from the state last week.
“We’ve done a lot of research and best practices, worked on budget numbers and locations,” said Duffey. “(Jennifer Lyons) asked for a resolution expressing support for a dog park.”
She got it. Now about that land . . .