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Pet owners want Ashland to fix up the city dog park Many complain that the facility has been allowed to deteriorate By DANI DODGE ASHLAND -- When bed and breakfast owner Jon Reinhardt took in a malnourished stray dog six months ago, he was shocked by the amount of energy in the abandoned Hungarian Visla. Fortunately for the Ashland resident, the city's dog park is only six blocks from his home. "The only way we were able to keep Django is to take him to the dog park every day," Reinhardt said. "He has to run and play and get the energy out." But Reinhardt quickly realized the heavily used Ashland Dog Park, near the sewage treatment plant at the intersection of Helman and Nevada streets, isn't getting a lot of attention from the city. Star thistle grows in the fenced-off field. A makeshift dog pool often gets dirty and sometimes disgusting. There are no lights. So Saturday, Reinhardt and other dog park users are meeting at the Ashland Library to discuss priorities for their beloved dog park. They will take their ideas to the city parks commission in January, before it develops its annual budget. The meeting will be from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Ashland Library and is open to the public. "The city is going to be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on all these other parks, and they don't spend a penny on the dog park," Reinhardt said. "We need to get the city to spend some money on this." The dog park was developed in 1994 after some dog lovers complained there was nowhere in the city to take their dogs. Dogs are banned from Lithia Park and other city parks, even when they are on a leash. People in the parks department considered the park an experiment. "We paid for half the fencing and the people instrumental in getting the park paid for the rest," said Ken Mickelsen, parks director. "It was a real community effort." It cost the city less than $2,000. But the rewards have been tremendous, Mickelsen said. A steady stream of people and canines are almost always there. Mickelsen said there have been few if any problems at the park, where dog owners pick up their own pet messes and watch over their own animals. Additionally, many people enjoy the social benefits of the park: Although they go there for their dogs, they end up meeting other dog owners and enjoying companionship beyond the kind their best friends can provide. "All indications are it's been extremely successful, way beyond what we thought it would be," Mickelsen said. Because the park is at the trailhead for the Ashland portion of the Greenway, the city was already considering putting in some limited security lighting and bathrooms and paving the parking lot, Mickelsen said. Park Commission Chairwoman JoAnne Eggers agrees it's time to consider upgrading the park. "I think it's great a group of dog owners are getting together to think about it and how we can make it better," she said. "We can only benefit from their efforts." Patty Frey -- who was at the park in the pouring rain Wednesday with her dog Buddy -- said she's excited about the possibility of upgrading the park. She talks about a shelter to protect dog owners from the elements. Lights for after dark. A better water system. And maybe even a tennis ball machine for the fetchers in the crowd. "Let's brainstorm here. Get it on paper. Prioritize," she said. "And let's get really what we want." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA