After recent flooding put the Burns Park Dog Park underwater, and downed trees have littered the park after last week's storms, it's time to find a drier spot for dogs to run off-leash in North Little Rock, city Parks and Recreation Director Terry Hartwick said Monday.
Arkansas River flooding left most of Burns Park south of Interstate 40 covered with water and closed off between the last week of May and early this month. Floodwaters also affected the River Trail and North Little Rock's downtown riverfront area. The river reached a crest of 29.71 feet in the Little Rock area June 5.
The Burns Park Soccer Complex remains closed, and two areas of the River Trail near the soccer fields flooded again overnight Sunday when heavy rains hit, Hartwick said.
The dog park, off Tournament Drive just east of the Burns Park Soccer Complex, is in a low-lying area near the Arkansas River shore that Hartwick said is "always the last thing to get dry and the first thing to get wet."
The dog park is one of the areas closed since the flood began the last week of May, and it remains closed. Even if the ground were dry, Hartwick said, there is debris and a slew of dead fish and alligator gar stuck in the fences that separate the park into three sections for dogs of different sizes.
Then on Wednesday night, thunderstorms accompanied by strong winds in central Arkansas knocked down trees that had lined the dog park.
"I'm tired of fighting a losing battle," Hartwick said Monday after surveying the park again. "The downed trees look like pick-up sticks. There's alligator gar and snakes and turtles all stuck in the fences. You can't tell it's even a fence. It's just a mess of debris.
"I'm probably going to shut down the dog park completely and open it up someplace else," he said. "I'm tired of fighting a losing battle. It's always constantly wet. I have more people call me about taking their dogs out there when they're clean, and when they bring them back home they have to give them a bath."
The dog park opened in 2003.
"Let me find an alternative location," Hartwick said. "Maybe there will be some [Federal Emergency Management Agency] funds [available for flood damage] we can use. We need to find a place that all the people like and will not go underwater every three to five months."
Hartwick has dealt with flooding issues since leaving as president of the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce to become parks director Jan. 1, 2016. Major flooding occurred along the Arkansas River in late December 2015 and early January 2016. Cleanup from that flooding was Hartwick's first order of business at his new job.
"I have been through this since I've been here," Hartwick said.
He said it's not worth the time, trouble and expense to try to reopen the dog park, especially when more rain forecast for this weekend could flood it again.
"If the river reaches 18 feet again, the dog park will flood again," Hartwick said. "By the time I can get this one open, I could probably build a new one.
"What can I get open that stays open 99 percent of the time instead of half the time?" Hartwick said while talking about finding a new location. "I could probably get one [in a new area] started and use what's in there and have one open that won't always shut down.
"There's got to be a better way to do it," he said. "It just doesn't make sense to keep throwing good money after bad."
Metro on 06/25/2019