dog park pondering, again

This Wednesday could mark the beginning of a beautiful thing.

The Champaign Park District Commissioners will consider signing a lease for seven acres of land in very Southwest Champaign that will be designated for a dog park. The Commissioners are scheduled to vote on this agenda item at their regular board meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday night.

Supporters of the dog park are encouraged to attend this meeting and join in on the public comment portion. Part of the hang up for the dog park is that the board wants a “a commitment of fundraising” in the amount of four figures. I don’t know how this will work, I tried to make a pledge several years ago and the Park District wouldn’t take my money. But certainly someone or some group — perhaps “Friends of the Champaign Dog Park” — will organize to serve this purpose. Count me in.

The proposed location for the park is next to the Urbana and Champaign Sanitary District of Champaign County’s Southwest treatment plant near the corner of Windsor and Staley Roads. The Sanitary District owns the land for lease.

Perhaps some of you want to know why Champaign needs a dog park, even though there is one already in Urbana.  I’m not sure how many dogs there are in Champaign, but judging by a sample of my neighborhood — where every other house has at least one dog — they are plentiful. There is no reason to think that this community could not support two dog parks.A dog park benefits both dogs and their companions as it:

• Socializes and exercises dogs in a safe environment.
• Encourages people to exercise with their dogs.
• Promotes responsible pet ownership.
  
• Provides elderly and disabled owners with an accessible place to exercise their companions.
• Provides people who live in apartments with a place to exercise their dogs.
• Enables dogs to legally run off-leash.
• Promotes public health and safety.
• Provides a tool for realistic enforcement of dog control laws.

updating …

I saw the running nun again in the neighborhood late last week, on a random afternoon.

Rumor has it that Stride Rite, late of Marketplace Mall, will be opening a store in the Tuscola outlet mall on June 1.

Now that Tout Sweet is the Crepe Cafe, and with Persimmon long gone, does this mean that there is no gelato in C-U?

A letter to the News-Gazette editor the other day laments trees being removed to make way for the new Urbana Meijer. And I thought Urbana was (a) Tree City USA …

lessons learned

• Always check the pizza before the delivery man leaves or before you leave the restaurant. (Thank you, Papa Dels).
• Always check the carry-out order to make sure every thing is there before you go home. (Thank you, Biaggi’s.)
• Always avoid the intersection at Windsor and Neil. Besides the speed trap, the world’s shortest stoplight is a menace. (Thank you, city of Champaign).
• Always overfeed the campus meters, no matter how short the errand. (Thank you, U of I meter maids and men.)
• Always bring a poop bag on a walk, even if your dog just did her business in the backyard. (Thank you, KC.)