Dog park idea resurfaces

#MiddleburyCT #DogPark #SchoolhousePark

This view looks out over about 2.5 acres of a fenced grassy area at Schoolhouse Park. The building housing restrooms is to the right. This property owned by Town of Middlebury has been mentioned in recent conversations about having a Middlebury Dog Park. (Marjorie Needham photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Do Middlebury residents want a dog park here? That is the question, and we’d like readers to share their thoughts. Please do so by sending an email to mbisubmit@gmail.com with “Dog Park” as the subject, or mail us a note at Middlebury Bee-Intelligencer, P.O. Box 10, Middlebury, CT 06762,

Thirteen years ago, Middlebury resident Beverly Dassonville created a model of a dog park complete with fencing, dogs and people and entered it in the Beneful Dream Dog Park contest. Beneful would pay $500,000 toward a dream dog park if Dassonville won. She made it to the finals, but someone else walked away with first prize.

Undeterred, Dassonville put together a committee that created the nonprofit “Friends of Middlebury Dog Park” and started fundraising. Since then two possible locations for a dog park have fallen through, but Dassonville has not yet given up hope. First Selectwoman Jennifer Mahr mentioned one of Middlebury’s underutilized parks, Schoolhouse Park on Maple Drive, might work out as a location.

That’s a big “might,” because, of course, it would have to go through getting approvals by one or more committees or commissions before a dog park could be created there. This reporter visited the location recently with Dassonville, who said she thought it would be a great location.

Chain link fencing surrounds approximately 2.5 acres of mowed grass next to a building with restrooms that also has running water. Only one area where the building and grassy area meet is not fenced to prevent dogs escaping. Work would be needed to turn it into a dog park, but the basic needs are already met.

Mahr (and Assessor Chris Kelsey) said the town invested a lot of money in creating a soccer field there, but it gets no use. Mahr said she has reached out to various groups regarding field use, but there have been no takers. It sits there, mowed and maintained but unused.

In 2014, former First Selectman Edward B. St. John told Dassonville the town would provide a 5-acre or more piece of land if the group could raise funds to construct the dog park. This reporter was among those who visited the proposed site on Long Meadow Road. It was next to an I-84 overpass, full of trees and shrubs and little grass, and also had a healthy population of ticks.

Around 2021, the Middlebury Land Trust offered land on Nichols Road (off Shadduck Road), and Dassonville transferred the money she had raised to the MLT to use in developing the dog park. The MLT land had a small area that could be brush hogged, but the balance was forested.

The MLT developed plans for a 3-acre dog park, and a public hearing on it was held in May 2024. Since then, not much has happened, so Dassonville inquired about the status. Former president Scott Peterson explained the land trust had gotten bogged down with accreditation and legal matters. Current co-president Alice Hallaran explained to this reporter in a September 1 email that the Nichols Road property had not proven feasible “for many reasons.”

So, now there is a possibility a dog park could be created at Schoolhouse Park. Please do express your thoughts on this. As town officials consider moving forward with this, they will need your input!