Park District Promises Dog Park, Hopefully In 2012

As the Northbrook Park District conducts , executive director Rick Hanetho has promised Northbrook residents that a dog park is already on the way.

“We are very well aware of the fact that there is a strong contingent in our community that—excuse the pun—is ‘licking their chops’ for a dog park in Norhbrook,” Hanetho told a group of residents at a forum last week. “I can tell you that the park district is absolutely, 100 percent committed to building a dog park in Northbrook.” 

Hanetho said that the park district hoped to move into design and construction of a dog park within the year, and is currently working to finalize the site. While some residents at the forum suggested putting a dog park on the six-acre site the park district recently purchased adjacent to Techny Prairie Park and Fields, Hanetho told Patch that it wasn’t a good option, given the price the park district paid to purchase it.

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“It would be hard to justify spending $2.1 million to build a dog park there,” he said. “From a financial stewardship perspective, it would absolutely not make sense.”

Northbrook resident Cherie Lindskog, who participated in the first park district forum on last Wednesday night, said she hopes to see a dog park soon. 

“That’s what I came here to talk about,” said Lindskog, who has a Jack Russell terrier.

Talk of a dog park in Northbrook goes back several years. In 2009, some 700 residents signed a petition asking the park district to build a dog park. And when the park district surveyed Northbrook residents that same year, approximately 31 percent said they had a need for an off-leash dog park. 

Nearby communities with dog parks include Glenview, Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Wilmette, Glencoe, Winnetka and Skokie.

At least one Northbrook resident has made a very vocal stand for a dog park. In November, Bill Buttimer created a website, northbrookdogpark.com, to promote the issue. He believes the park district should build a dog park on the six-acre site it recently purchased.

“I wanted to get the people together who have been asking for the dog park for some time to speak with some voice on the matter,” said Buttimer. 

The owner of a shelter dog, Buttimer is also a former board member of the North Suburban YMCA, whose CEO Howard Schultz . 

Buttimer said that he, too, is opposed to construction of a new community center. 

“I just think our dollars could be better spent on other projects, on things we don’t already have,” he said.

While he’s happy to hear that the park district has promised a new dog park, he wants to make sure that it has the features residents want. Buttimer said that sort of discussion was missing in the community forum he attended.

“They could have had a session saying, ‘What kind of features do you want in a dog park?’” he said. “I would hope they are going to have that at some point.”