County's dog park "fantastic" for area; $15,000 park 'great addition' to system BY J. Miles Layton - Times WV

Every dog has its day, and that day could become a little better thanks to Marion County’s new dog park.“There’s no question, this is absolutely fantastic for the community,” said state Sen. Roman Prezioso, who was enjoying the park alongside his black 80-pound Labrador retriever named Leonardo.On Sunday, dogs and people alike attended the ribbon cut­ting of “FIDO’s Backyard,” the latest addition to the coun­ty’s park system. The multi­acre park is located in a wood­ed area near the basketball courts by Pavillion 5 within East Marion Park.“This is a nice place for peo­ple to bring their dogs — a great addition to our parks sys­tem,” said Marion County Commissioner Burley “Butch” Tennant.Cheri Pourbaix, of Fairmont, brought her little brown, long­haired dachshund named Newton to see the new park. Newton politely declined an interview because he was too busy taking in the scenery. But on Newton’s behalf, Pourbaix said, “Oh yeah, he loves it. He loves this new park.”And love the park Newton should because it offered an enormous fenced-in area where dogs could be dogs. The area will be “off-leash,” a place where owners can let their dogs off their leashes to run around and play with other dogs. But the dogs must be controlled and must stay in the designated area.“The park allows dogs to get acquainted with other dogs in a non-threatening environment,” said Dave Garcia, president of Fairmont’s Interested Dog Owners (FIDO), a group that organized to create the park.Garcia said the park was inspired by Stanley’s Spot in Morgantown. That popular dog park, smaller by compari­son, is a fenced-in area located off the rail trail where dogs large and small meet. The new park relied heavily on volun­teers in terms of fundraising and hard labor to make it a place that dogs like Newton would bark about.Garcia said the park cost about $15,000. The money to pay for the park came from a $2,000 state grant and $5,000 from the Marion County Commission, with the remaining share of $8,000 offered up as donations from dogs’ best friend, people.“The volunteers have been great — without them, this would not have been possi­ble,” Garcia said.Garcia had high praise for Dan Talbott and Mike Koon, of the Marion Parks and Recreation Commission, for transforming a heavily forest­ed lot into a dog park.“They performed miracles in transforming an old, grown up area into a fantastic dog park,” Garcia said.The Marion County Parks and Recreation Commission (MCPARC) will maintain the park. Talbott, MCPARC exec­utive director, said the area will be a mixture of open field woods, which will offer bene­fits to pet owners utilizing the facility because the trees would offer shade in the summer and some protection from the ele­ments, and the fields will give them room to play catch and other games with their dogs.MCPARC board member Richard Walton said, “This park is another quality of life enhance­ment for Marion County.”