City creating a park for pooches // PHOTO GALLERY

PANAMA CITY — Just in time for the dog days of summer, Panama City officials expect to have a “high-quality” dog park up and running for residents and visitors.

Thousands of dog parks are sprinkled across the United States, providing grounds for exercise for dogs and socializing grounds for their human counterparts. However, city officials want the $360,626 Balboa Dog Park to stand out for the quality of amenities offered to pets and pet owners alike.

In January, construction crews broke ground on the project, nestled between Oakland Cemetery and Bay Memorial Walking Park on Balboa Avenue, and city officials expect to finish before their July deadline. Several public programs are envisioned for the park facilities, including dog obedience courses, dog shows and even an area to possibly play host to “dog parties,” according to Panama City Leisure Services Director Keith Baker.

“The idea isn’t too far-fetched,” Baker said. “The standard of this has really been raised, as far as quality is concerned, and it’s what people who live around there expect.”

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Among the amenities offered in the dog park project are two separate fenced areas for larger and smaller dogs. Each will have a variety of obstacles and terrains for dogs to run around on, water features for cooling down afterward and a shared, 26-by-22-foot pavilion to provide shelter for owners.

Design plans have morphed slightly since construction began because the city orchestrated in-house designs to cut out the cost of employing a professional designer. For instance, an underground water system was added to provide water hoses to spray animal waste off walkways, Baker said.

Parking for more than 80 vehicles also is anticipated in the city’s plans.

But plans have not strayed from one of the main goals of the project: to clean up the neighboring walking park. Baker said before plans for the dog park began to fall in place, city staff wanted development to include safety upgrades to the walking trail and integrate it with the dog park. Cost for the dog park includes stripping everything — trees and underbrush — lower than 5 feet from the walking park.

Weather issues backed the project deadline up to July, but Baker said when complete the dog park will be more than benches and grass.

“We are going to see some good things out there,” he said. “It’s going to be more of an active dog park than a passive one.”