Bad weather has delayed the reopening of the San Marcos Dog Park with no definitive opening date in sight.
After weeks of rain, parks operational manager Bert Stratemann said he was forced to delay the reopening of the dog park, located at 250 Charles Austin Dr. The initial reopening was slotted for Oct. 31 but was stopped after flooding hindered construction. Stratemann and his team are hoping for nice weather so the park can have a soft opening in the coming weeks.
According to Stratemann, all that’s left is to regrade areas of the park to help mitigate flooding.
“The rain has delayed us at least three weeks right now,” Stratemann said. “We should have been done already. Two or three weeks ago, but the rain caught us and we are still battling it. We’ve had some beautiful weather the last few days, but we still have some standing water.”
The park underwent renovations to create more areas for dogs of various sizes to play and wheelchair-accessible paths for owners. Stratemann said easy maintenance was the priority of the renovations. There are also added benches, shaded areas and agility pieces.
Marie Drosche, a frequent park visitor, said she enjoyed visiting the park when it was open and looks forward to the new areas for her dog.
“It just had an open field and a fountain and that was it, but it was good for the time being because I don’t feel like a lot of people went to the dog park,” Drosche said. “Then a bunch of people started going. It just became too run down for all of the dogs to actually be there. I think the renovations will really help with having enough space for everyone.”
Stratemann said the renovations were going to address the drainage issues, which contributed to the flooding that triggered the delay.
“We had been having a series of issues with drainage and with the volume of people we had going to the park,” Stratemann said. “It’s probably one of the most used parks in the system and it caused us a lot of issues, maintenance wise, with the way it was designed. The layout made it very difficult for us to get in and maintain it while still giving the public a place to use.”
Issac Munoz, a regular park visitor, said he experienced drainage issues first-hand when visiting the park.
“We would take our dog out there and let him run around and do his own thing,” Munoz said. “I’m glad they are renovating, though, because for a while it would flood a lot and the water for the dogs was muddy and gross and then they would get all dirty.”
To stay up to date with the progress, visit the Dog Park website.