Plans for new Cedar Rapids dog park set back

City officials are going back to the drawing board to adjust plans for a new off-leash dog park next to Gardner Golf Course near Highway 100 and Highway 13.

The city sought bids in September for park construction on the 10-plus-acre site, but the city received just one bid, which was twice as much as the estimated project cost of $115,000, reports Steve Krug, a landscape architect in the city's Parks and Recreation Department.

Krug said the design of the dog park apparently was a “little fancier than we need.” It had been slated to include a walking trail, parking lot, training area and areas for small and large dogs with future plans for adding shelters, benches and a drinking fountain.

The new plan, which will be put out for bid in the future, likely will include using the city's own parks staff to do some of the work on the park. The park should be ready to open by mid to late summer, Krug said.

The city also is in the process of renovating its existing Cheyenne Dog Park off Old River Road SW, which was damaged in the 2008 flood. Disaster funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay for this work, which will reconfigure the park so parts of it don't flood so regularly. The park now is open.