Henderson’s Heritage Park goes to the dogs

By Conor Shine

Thursday, June 30, 2011 | 2 a.m.

When Henderson residents were asked what they wanted in the new 160-acre Heritage Park, many wanted a single item — a dog park.

Places for dogs to run free and play with new friends have sprouted across the Las Vegas Valley, which now has more than two dozen dog parks, many of which were “tacked on” as an afterthought to existing parks, said Henderson Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Kim Becker.

But the openness of the Heritage site gave planners an opportunity to design a place with dogs singularly in mind. So they developed five acres with lots of grass, shade and dog-themed features.

The $1.5 million dog park’s three dog runs surround a central plaza offering an 18-foot-long by 6-foot-high dog statue dubbed “Barkules.” The designer describes the park’s aesthetic as “fun and whimsical,” with dog bone-shaped benches for people and dog-bowl drinking fountains for pets.

“Most of the dog parks that we had were pretty small, it’s really just fenced space for dogs to run, which people really love,” Becker said. “But (people) kept saying we’d like a bigger dog park with some more amenities in it.”

Since it opened in August, the Bark Park at Heritage Park (that’s the formal name) has drawn nearby residents and dog owners from throughout the valley.

It recently won “Project of the Year” awards for its design from the Nevada Recreation and Parks Society and the Nevada chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

“When I go to a dog park, I come here,” Scott Walker said as he tossed a Frisbee to his two golden retrievers. “The main thing for me is the grass. The park near where I live is mostly just dirt, so I have to shampoo them when I get home.”

Ben Fish, who helped design the park, said the goal was to create a community-gathering place where dogs could exercise and their owners could socialize.

“Dog owners are a growing population and there’s a social interaction to it. They want to get out and meet other dog owners,” Fish said. “You can’t really bring dogs to a mall or restaurant, so this is a place for them.”

The park includes several sustainability features, including permeable pavement to improve stormwater runoff, drought resistant grass and trees, and energy-efficient LED lighting that allows the park to stay open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

A doghouse-themed restroom is in the planning stages, and will provide hooks so owners can leash their dogs inside the stalls with them.

Henderson resident Dorothy Thomas likes the special space for her small dogs that gives them plenty of room to run.

“My dog thinks he’s a big dog, so he’s always getting picked on by larger dogs (at other parks),” Thomas said. “Here I think they feel like they’re running away because they can get as far away as they want and I don’t have to stop them.”