Here’s something to bark about!
Dogs in Manhattan Beach won’t be able to stop wagging their tails once the Parks Department completes its makeover of the shabby and long-argued-over dog run in the neighborhood’s eponymous park, set to break ground next fall. Local civic groups could never agree on what to with the space — whether it should be transformed into a garden or left for the canines — so it’s good to finally see progress, said the president of the Friends of Manhattan Beach Dog Run Association.
“Well, this has been a project that has been in the talking stages since the last 20 years. They wanted the new dog park, but wanted it moved, and this is a project that finally is happening,” said Shari Kaplan, who is also a member of Community Board 15, pushed for the renovation. “It’s going to be spectacular and we’re all very excited. It’s going to be amazing — it’s state of the art.”
The Parks Department plans to build two separate areas, one for chihuahua-sized dogs and the other for larger, mastiff-types. The Oriental Boulevard run will also come equipped with water fountains that can hydrate all species, whether two- or four-legged. The hydration stations have a water-bottle filler and a dog bowl set lower down for when pups need a sip after running around all day long. The city is also installing benches, waste stations, steel storage containers, and garbage bins, according to information from the department.
And humans won’t have to worry about their precious pup’s paws getting cut up from sharp rocks or gravel — the Parks Department is laying down a soft turf-like flooring called “foreverlawn K9 grass,” which canines are already barking about at a park in Philadelphia that planners used as a model for the one in Manhattan Beach, said the chairman of the CB15 Parks Committee Al Smaldone.
“We didn’t want to have granite stones because they really hurt the dogs, get between their paws,” said Smaldone, who is also the president of the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association. “It’s easy on the dog’s paws, really state of the art.”
Kaplan doesn’t even bring her six dogs to the run now — though she opens it up and locks the gate each night — because her four-legged friends don’t always like to mingle with others, but she’s already planning their visit to the park once it’s completed, she said.
“We don’t go to the dog run. My big-dog, standard poodle doesn’t like to be bothered,” said Kaplan. “I think I’ll use this one once it’s done, because there will be a lot of amenities we don’t have in the old one. And it’ll just be cleaner.”
Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D–Manhattan Beach) provided $650,000 for the project, which the Parks Department expects will be ready to go within one year once construction starts, a department spokeswoman said.
The city is also renovating the park’s promenade, and Deutsch funded an additional $1.5 million to repair the basketball and tennis courts, for which construction plans to start this spring.
