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Another Dog Park Could Be Coming To Logan Square: Here's How To Help

By Mina Bloom | October 13, 2016 5:58am
 Kosciuszko Park, 2732 N. Avers Ave.
Kosciuszko Park, 2732 N. Avers Ave.
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DNAinfo/Mina Bloom

LOGAN SQUARE — Logan Square might be getting another dog park.

Neighbors are pushing for a dog park to be built within Logan Square's largest park, Kosciuszko Park, 2732 N. Avers Ave.

The newly formed Kosciuszko Park Advisory Council is behind the effort to create a pup-friendly area on the northwestern edge of the sprawling eight-acre park, which sits on the western edge of the neighborhood.

"With all of the press about the Logan [Square] dog park at the expressway, I think people started asking, 'Why doesn't the West Side have a dog park?' Especially because that dog park is as far east as you can go and still call it Logan," said Geary Yonker, president of the advisory council.

Yonker said the dog park would help residents "rediscover" Kosciuszko Park and eliminate misconceptions people may have about the park.

"It plays into the whole renaissance of that Pulaski and Diversey intersection if you could have the dog park on that corner," he said. "We're trying to find some ways to get people interested in that corner, to create some different uses for it."

Kevin Lamm, chief of staff for Ald. Milly Santiago (31st), whose ward includes the park, said a dog park could help improve public safety in the area.

"Having a park there, it'd be kind of like positive loitering," Lamm said, adding that the alderman's office has had issues with people hanging out and drinking at the northwestern corner of the park. 

Santiago said the dog park might also help curb the increasing problem of people not picking up after their pets.

When asked how often residents are calling to complain about dog poop, Santiago said, "Oh my goodness ... on a daily basis. It's really bad."

"I think this would be a way to curb that problem by providing a place for people with their pets," she added.

Since the Chicago Park District doesn't pay for dog parks, the advisory council teamed with the alderman's office to put the project on Santiago's participatory budget list. It has since risen to the No. 1 item on the list, Lamm said. 

If the measure passes, Santiago is prepared to give $100,000 toward the dog park at Kosciuszko Park and another dog park at Ken-Well Park, 2945 N. Kenosha Ave. — a project that hasn't garnered as much interest as the one in Logan Square.

Yonker said the Logan Square dog park would cost about $100,000 in total. Depending on how much of the $100,000 the group gets, it might need to raise additional money from the community, he said.

"It's the first step in the process, but if we could get this measure passed, I think it would jumpstart it. We could get from point A to point W pretty quick," Yonker said.

To secure the money from Santiago's office, neighbors are encouraged to vote on the participatory budget items.

Other items on the participatory budget list include improving the lighting at Schubert Elementary School, adding a bike lane on Fullerton Avenue between Central Park and Pulaski avenues and building a pedestrian island on Diversey Avenue near Kosciuszko Park — an effort also supported by the advisory council. 

Residents can vote at a number of neighborhood sites through Oct. 22. Yonker and his fellow council members will be at the park facilitating voting from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 22.

For a full list of dates and sites, visit the alderman's website.

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