Push for dog park at old golf course begins at city council

Regina’s city council will hear from delegates wanting the city to be more dog-friendly at a regular meeting on Monday.

They plan to ask council members to ensure redevelopment plans for the Regent Park par-3 golf course include an off-leash dog park.

City council will hear 15 delegates present on the matter.

The golf course is about 12 acres (4.89 hectares) in size and sits on the north side of McKinley Avenue, west of Elphinstone Street; it has nine holes and greens. A report from the City of Regina says the course has been decommissioned.

“The site was identified in the Recreation Facility Plan 2010-2020 for redevelopment into a neighbourhood hub facility to meet the contemporary recreation needs of this growing community,” a report from the city says.

Administrators have proposed four options for redeveloping the park and the golf course. All of them include recreation ideas, like spray pads, pathways, a playground and a sports field. Three options include residences, either townhouses or seniors’ assisted living complexes or both.

People like Nelson Bryksa and Connie Buchan want to ensure those plans include off-leash dog parks.

In her submitted materials to council, Buchan suggests that city administrators incorporate an off-leash dog park into their proposal for recreation-only changes to the site.

Bryksa rejects all four options proposed by city administrators.

Instead, he proposes two off-leash dog parks on the site, one for large dogs and one for small dogs. He also advocates preserving the park’s natural state, and keeping the existing trees there as they are.

The public portion of Monday’s city council meeting is set to start at 5:30 p.m.