Setting the record straight on Fort Washington dog park
Your article last Sunday ("Park arf-limits during restoration," City Weekly, July 8) incorrectly stated that Fort Washington was designated a dog park last year. It has been a dog park for over 10 years. It was fully fenced and gated last year so that dogs could not escape onto city streets or onto the dangerous train tracks that run next to the park. What was approved last year was the temporary additional fencing installed there, which is to be replaced by permanent fencing and gates within five years.
Also incorrect is the statement that Fresh Pond "underwent considerable restoration work before being reopened." Fresh Pond was never closed during the (still ongoing) restoration work. Further, it was not the only off-leash park in Cambridge until last year. In addition to Fort Washington, the dog run at Danehy Park has been open for several years. Unfortunately, the Danehy Park run is unfenced and essentially unusable due to lack of drainage, but is being renovated and possibly relocated, hopefully in the next year.
We agree that the few off-leash options in Cambridge are insufficient for the number of dogs here, and that the lack of off-leash space has led directly to the overuse of those few legal off-leash areas. In order to avoid overuse, the city is working on making additional safe, legal off-leash areas available, such as the Pacific Street dog run, which opened last month.
The Working Group on Dog Parks has been investigating additional designated spaces as well as shared-use hours at local parks (modeled loosely on Brookline's successful Green Dog program). While progress has been slow, Cambridge Dog Owners' Group members have been active participants in the process and are hopeful that together with representatives of the city, we will eventually achieve our goal: safe, legal off-leash play space for dogs within walking distance of every resident of Cambridge.
Helen Fairman
Cambridge
(The author is on the Cambridge Dog Owners' Group steering committee, and a member of the Working Group on Dog Parks and the Fresh Pond Medallion Committee.) 