Residents in Athens have been asking for a dog park for several years now, and now the city may be one step closer to giving the people what they want.

The City Council unanimously approved a resolution for Mayor Ronnie Marks’ office to apply for a PetSafe Bark For Your Park dog park grant during its meeting April 26.

City employee Amy Golden said PetSafe does these grants annually, and the City has been waiting for the opportunity to apply for one “for several years.”

One of the issues in the way of the application in the past has been finding a good location in Athens for the dog park. Marks told the Council that the initial idea was to apply for the grant with Swan Creek in mind, but the upcoming park will be built at the old Pilgrim’s Pride location.

“That looks like the optimal site,” Golden said. “There is still some discussion and design work to be done, and all that has to go into the proposal when we submit for the grant.”

Golden said a dog park is one of those “quality of life” pieces that a city like Athens needs, a place where people can go and socialize for both themselves and their pets.

“It brings people of like interest together,” she said.

Golden said discussion for a dog park in the city goes all the way back to 2015. She said now that the Pilgrim’s Pride area is being renovated into a park, it makes sense for a dog park to be a part of that.

Ardmore also seeking grant

The City of Ardmore, Tennessee, is also applying for a dog park grant, but through a different organization. The City posted on social media Tuesday that it is applying for a Dog Park Dash grant, with a community engagement phase set to run through the end of May.

“Residents are encouraged to post a picture on social media with their dog and include the hashtag #dogparkdash2021 and City of Ardmore (they will check social media through the hashtag). The more community support the City of Ardmore has, the stronger the application will be,” the City said in the post.

The News Courier will have more information on the Ardmore dog park application in an upcoming article.