Vigil held to bid farewell to a much-loved dog park

While the dogs continued to yelp and run on the frosted ground, their owners, with icy breath and flashlight beams rising in the night air, bid a tentative farewell to their beloved dog park on 43rd and Locust streets, which served as a community hub for the past 20 years. With construction about to begin on the University-supported pre-k-8 school on the present site of the park, Friday night's vigil was a show of support by a community that hopes it will be able to continue, if not there, someplace nearby. Organized by the newly-formed University City Dog Owners Group, the vigil brought about 24 neighbors together for some last moment reflections and attempts to rally support for a grassroots effort to find a replacement park. "It was the closest community I had ever had in the entire time I have lived in Philadelphia," long-time dog owner, local resident and UCDOG member Nora Doyle said of the park's loyal visitors to the assembled crowd. Doyle recounted the now locally famous story of how when she broke her ankle, it was the friends she made in the park while walking Opie and Dragon, her full-sized and miniature Doberman pinschers, who came to her aid. Others also spoke about the spirit of community that they said often seems absent in West Philadelphia, but yet was never lacking at the park. "A lot of you said that you wouldn't know your neighbors if you didn't come to this park. I wouldn't know any of you probably, if I didn't come here," third-year School of Arts and Sciences graduate student and UCDOG member Mary Fischer said. "We've all benefited from this community and hopefully we can continue this community at a different park." Doyle, Fischer and others from the group handed out pamphlets outlining the purpose of UCDOG and their plan to convert a vacant plot into a paw-friendly open space. The organization, which is seeking non-profit status, asked dog owners to contribute an annual membership fee of $20 that will be used to locate and then lease and convert a suitable site. However, the cold weather kept many residents indoors, and organizers were disappointed that more did not come. The University, which owns the current lot, has let dog owners use the space for walking their dogs since the early '70s, with the implicit understanding that the park would eventually disappear should a more pressing need arise. University officials said earlier in the year that they are sympathetic to the dog owners' plight, but that there is nothing Penn can do other than lend official support for a new park. Last fall, some community members reacted angrily to the news that the park was disappearing, waging a war of words against the University and surprising officials who said that Penn was trying to benefit the entire community by building what all agree will be a model public school. UCDOG Organizer Dan Mingelgrin, a Wharton doctoral student, said he was nonetheless disappointed by the University's response. Still, he said he hopes that it will not be too long before UCDOG can independently find an alternative location. UCDOG member Will Pillsburg said it would be ideal if they could get space at Clark Park on 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue, but he had previously been told by the Friends of Clark Park that at present a dog run would not be feasible there. "We've been told that Clark Park isn't making any major changes in the next few years and we'd be considered a major change," Pillsburg said.

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