AMHERST — A portion of a former municipal landfill that is capped and covered with grass, and which has become a habitat for the endangered grasshopper sparrow, is being transformed into the town’s first dog park.
Almost exactly five years after dog owners organized to pitch the idea of the Amherst Dog Park, town officials broke ground Wednesday on the $280,466 park on Old Belchertown Road that should be ready for use by fall 2021.
Crews from Valiant-America of New Bedford are expected to be on site by Sept. 1 to begin the project, designed by the Berkshire Design Group of Northampton, that will be paid for by the Stanton Foundation of Cambridge and $90,000 from the town’s Community Preservation Act account.
Town Manager Paul Bockelman told people gathered at the event that he was not in his current position when the dog park was first considered. But he recalls one of his initial meetings in Amherst 2016 was with Jim Pistrang, who asked to establish the Dog Park Task Force and then became its chairman.
“I said, ‘Oh my God, not another committee — we do everything by committee.’” Bockelman said of the request.
More people applied to be on the task force than on other boards that often go wanting for members, Bockelman said, and once it began meeting, the project quickly came together.
“This is an amazing effort,” said Town Council President Lynn Griesemer. She did acknowledge, however, that she is unlikely to use the dog park since she is a cat owner.
The date when the site will open is at least a year away, said Town Engineer Jason Skeels. Construction can begin when it is certain that the grasshopper sparrow is not nesting or using the habitat this year.
By fall 2021, a 2½-acre section of the 55-acre site will be ready with areas for both big dogs and little dogs to play, with water features and grass and pea stone for them to play on.
Pistrang said a Friends of the Amherst Dog Park group is being created that, like a similar group for Puffer’s Pond, will have occasional work days to keep the site shipshape.
The park will be free for residents and visitors, and Pistrang said he expects people to be considerate in how it is used.
Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek said a perimeter trail will be built on the site for dog walkers, with an observation area at its highest point.
