Royal Palm Beach is ready to celebrate the grand opening of its new dog park at the 163-acre Royal Palm Beach Commons Park. The grand opening of the new “Bark Park” is planned for Saturday, Sept. 26.
The village already has three smaller dog parks, but the new facility is larger with more amenities.
Village Manager Ray Liggins said the village is proud of all of its parks, including the new dog park.
“That’s our fourth dog park,” he said. “It’s clearly the nicest dog park of all the ones that we’ve built… It’s nice to be able to get one in this area. We now have one in every quadrant in the village.”
With more than 20 parks within Royal Palm Beach, adding the dog park adds to amenities available for village residents. “That’s what we’re known for these days,” Liggins said of the many parks with green space that the village has to offer.
The dog park, however, was not part of the original Commons Park master plan.
“Once the council decided to make it part of the master plan for Commons Park, the park was designed,” Liggins said, adding that the project was put out to bid last fall. “The money was available Oct. 1, 2014. We awarded the contract that first meeting of October. We couldn’t have done it any quicker than that.”
The project took about six months to build. It is already open to the public, fitting in nicely with the goals of the village for the park.
“It fits in with everything else that we’re doing at Commons Park,” Liggins said. “It’s just another feature at Commons Park where people can come here, obviously with their dogs, and enjoy the company of each other. That’s the whole purpose of the park, and that’s just another one of those features of the park that brings people to it to enjoy the park and each other — and the dogs, too.”
There are three separate fenced-in areas for different-sized dogs. There are pavilions for shade and benches for people to sit on. While it is affectionately called the “Bark Park,” the new park-within-a-park doesn’t have an official name, but it does have official rules.
All dogs must wear a collar and tags, have their vaccinations up-to-date and more. Aggressive dogs should not be brought there. At the park, Liggins said, there is a board listing all of the particulars.
Residents and their canine companions are invited to the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday, Sept. 26. Village officials, led by Mayor Matty Mattioli, will cut the ribbon officially opening the park at 9 a.m. The festivities will continue until 1 p.m.
Nearby will be a multitude of pet-related vendors offering services such as grooming, obedience and behavior lessons, treats and more. Dogs and their humans, big and small, are invited to attend the grand opening, which will feature refreshments from the park’s Ultimate Bakery, Special Events Coordinator Jalissa Sutton said.
“We’re trying to cover a variety so all the attendees, the owners and their pets, can use that as a resource for them to connect with the community and learn more about how to care for their pets,” she said.
The three areas for the dogs — separated by small, medium and large — will be past the vendors. There will be a bounce house for children, plenty of shade and lots of fun. “A lot of people have been interested in the dog park,” Sutton said. “We’re expecting a really good turnout.”
The grand opening is quickly shaping up, and excitement is mounting.
“We’re really excited,” Sutton said. “It’s a grand opening, and we’re trying to make it big and helpful to the community, and get everyone involved.”
From water for the dogs to refreshments for the humans, the goal is to make the grand opening of the dog park a special event.
“We’re going to take care of the pets and their owners and make sure that they have pretty much everything and make sure that they can enjoy the space while they’re out there that day,” Sutton said.
Royal Palm Beach Commons Park is located at 11600 Poinciana Blvd., off Royal Palm Beach Blvd. To learn more about the grand opening, visit www.royalpalmbeach.com or call (561) 790-5149. Vendor registration is available until Sept. 18, or until the limited spaces are full.
