QUEENS — It's a million-dollar pup paradise.
Astoria's future $1 million dog run will have separate sections for big and small dogs, lockers for pet owners to store supplies and a fire hydrant spray shower for pooches to cool down in, according to design plans officials released Friday.
The project — one of the winning proposals that residents voted to fund during participatory budgeting last year — is expected to break ground next summer, and will be the first city-operated dog park in Astoria.
It will also feature benches, a water hose for keeping the space clean, "rocky mounds" for the dogs to run on and brightly-painted designs on the ground, including one in the shape of a dog bone, according to the plans.
Astoria pet owners have been pushing for a new dog run in the neighborhood, where the only current enclosed space for pooches is a small, privately-maintained run near Astoria Park.
The new city-operated run will be located on Triborough Bridge Playground C, under the bridge on Hoyt Avenue North between 23rd and 24th streets, and is currently made up of basketball courts.
The dog park will take up one-half of the lot, while the other half will remain a basketball court, which is also set to get an overhaul under the plan, including new hoops and rims, seating and new painted markings. The spaces will be separated by a high fence, officials said.
At a press conference announcing the plans last year, Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski said the run's $1 million price tag is not unusual for a project of this kind.
It's being paid for with $500,000 allocated by City Councilman Costa Constantinides after 773 constituents voted to fund it. Queens Borough President Melinda Katz is providing the remaining $500,000.
Construction is expected to start in the summer of 2017 and should take about a year, officials said.
