Montgomery County’s first dog park inside the Capital Beltway is almost complete.
Construction crews started working on the Silver Spring dog park over the winter, and on Monday Project Manager Aaron Feldman said it should be completed in May.
The half-acre dog park, which takes up a portion of Ellsworth Urban Park on Colesville Road in Silver Spring, is being built as a pilot park to test urban dog park designs. It’s the first constructed as part of a county plan to add 11 more dog parks in the county by 2022. The county currently operates five dog parks, but all are north of the beltway. Planners said during the approval process for the park that there’s a need for more urban area dog parks, especially in Silver Spring and Bethesda.
The approximately $256,000 park includes a smaller area for timid dogs and a large area for well-socialized dogs. Each area is surrounded by a 5-foot-high fence that includes a double gated entry system to help prevent unleashed dogs from escaping.
Some neighbors, citing noise concerns, initially protested plans for the park, but the county ultimately chose the site because it’s 200 feet or more away from any residence and it’s located in an underutilized portion of the park. Ellsworth Urban Park’s playground and tennis courts have remained open during the construction process.
Dog park location. via Montgomery County planning
