Ansonia-Derby Dog Park Is Officially Open

The sign is up and the photo op is complete, so the Ansonia-Derby Dog Park is officially open for business!

Just remember to pick up after your pooch after she does her business!

Residents have been using the park for about two months, but Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri’s office sent out a press release Wednesday saying the park had officially opened last Friday after a handsome sign naming the park was erected.

The park is on Coon Hollow Road in Derby, close to the Department of Public Works. Coon Hollow connects Hawthorne Avenue to Chatfield Street.

This is a great way for pet owners and their dogs to relax and have fun and enjoy the freedom of the new park. I am pleased to work together with Ansonia to provide this new recreational area for the residents of Derby and Ansonia,” Staffieri said in a prepared statement.

This is part of how working together benefits the residents of both of our communities. I look forward to future collaborative efforts with Derby,” Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe said in the same press release.

The dog park idea had been kicking around for a few years. Sheila O’Malley, the city’s economic development director, first floated the idea publicly at a Board of Aldermen meeting, saying she had a $10,000 grant that could be used to install a fence.

Originally Staffieri wanted to put the park next to the Derby Greenway, a popular walking trail that had a dog poop problem. The city eventually banned dogs from the Greenway because of that problem.

But some residents worried a dog park on the Greenway could pollute the Naugatuck or Housatonic rivers.

Aldermen Carmen DiCenso and Art Gerckens then suggested a spot in the area of Coon Hollow Road.

Staffieri oversaw the project, according to the press release, by coordinating volunteers and even mixing cement.

Derby Life Scout Anthony Bartholomew played a crucial role by adopting the dog park as his Eagle Scout project. He built the doggie-related equipment inside, the benches and helped to clear the land.

In addition, the park has had many friends, volunteers and workers who have donated their time and effort, including Derby Public Works, the City of Ansonia, the Derby Shelton Rotary Club, Sam Pollastro, Billy Korolyshun, Frank Pepe, Home Depot, Lowes and others,” according to the press release.

A sign with rules for the park is currently being designed.

At a Board of Aldermen meeting last month, DiCenso suggested forming a dog park committee to draft those rules. Anyone interested should call him at 203 954‑8546.

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