Work on Bellevue dog park to start soon
Enough funding has been secured for construction to start on the park after a sizable donation from Festival Foods.
BELLEVUE - Construction of the first dog park on the east side of the Green Bay area could start within a month.
A group of dog lovers that has been raising money the past few years received a significant contribution this week that is expected to move the project forward.
A $15,000 donation from Skogen’s Festival Foods, which is the first major corporate gift for the $131,000 project, gives organizers the last chunk of money they needed to get the Laura & Peter Mossaskowski Family Dog Park started.
“This gets us to just where we need to be,” said Laura Mossakowski, president of the dog park committee.
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The group has raised more than $95,000 for the first phase of the project, which will include fencing around a 6½-acre piece of land. The park will include separate off-leash areas for large and small dogs as well as a paved parking lot with lighting.
The rest of the money will come from the village, which owns what is former farmland off Bellevue Street just south of State 172.
“Assuming the bids come through perfect, we’re right on track,” Mossakowski said.
She said bids for the work are due at the village office Thursday.
In turn, she said the Bellevue Village Board will evaluate and probably award the contract at its June 22 meeting. The village board endorsed the project at its May meeting.
At that time, Mossakowski hoped construction could start in late June with a park opening Labor Day weekend.
That timetable has been pushed back with a potential start for the work in early July.
“We’re hoping this fall (for the opening). The latest would be in the spring,” Mossakowski said.
The land would be graded and contoured with berms and other upgrades. Mossakowski said dogs wouldn’t be allowed on the new grass until after the park is mowed four times.
“It’s just flat (there), and that’s not very exciting for dogs,” she said. “So, we will be basically doing what a golf course does and creating some texture to the landscape.”
She said the dog park committee will continue to raise money for future phases of the village's plan to turn a 23-acre site, which includes the dog park, into an outdoor recreational hub. The $1.5 million plan includes splash pads and an obstacle course at the dog park, a pedestrian bridge across the East River, a wetlands boardwalk, a kayak/canoe launch and picnic shelters.
Brian Stenzel, director of community involvement for Festival Foods, said the De Pere-based grocer is excited about the dog park and the long-range potential for the entire site.
He said the $15,000 donation came from a combination of money raised by Festival Foods’ Paw Away Hunger Program in the Green Bay area and a matching amount from the company.
“With no facility on the east side of Green Bay for dogs to get proper exercise, we felt it was a great thing for the community,” Stenzel said.
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