By Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Neighbors gathered Wednesday afternoon at the site of West Seattle’s future second off-leash area (OLA) dog park to learn more about the project and to give feedback to the project team.
Members of the public are encouraged to share feedback by taking the online survey, which is open until November 11th. Project information from Seattle Parks is available online here.
As we previewed here, the “West Seattle Stadium Off-Leash Area outreach event” was held at the proposed site just south of West Seattle Stadium (4432 35th Ave SW), as illustrated in this 2023 image from Seattle Parks:
The location for the site was finalized 6 months ago, and this Seattle Parks visual from yesterday’s event gives a closer look at the overhead view of the site:
The site area is 16,000 square feet (.37 acre) and the team is in the early stages of gathering community feedback. The project charter is to “turn the current unpaved overflow parking lot into an OLA (off-leash area) featuring a fenced area for unleashed dogs, seating, and a planted stormwater bioretention area.”
After the survey closes on November 11th, the team will work on design options to bring back to the public for feedback in February/March 2025, and then more detailed construction designs will be created. Actual construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2026 and be completed in fall 2026. Seattle Parks is providing $3.1 mm for the planning, design, and construction of two OLAs, including this one at West Seattle Stadium as well as one at Othello Playground (4351 S Othello St.)
Team members on-hand Wednesday included project planner Colin Campbell from Seattle Parks, landscape architect Steve Nowaczyk from HBB Landscape Architects who will work on the site designs, and Alec Rodenhauser the chair of COLA (Citizens for Off-Leash Areas) who work with Parks and do local advocacy for OLA projects.
Team members said there was a steady stream of people (as well as 4-legged canine citizens) stopping by on Wednesday afternoon, some who intentionally made the trip, and others who were walking through the area and happened across the event (which project planner Campbell said is “encouraging” and “tells us we’ve got the right spot.”)
Attendees provided their feedback verbally, via note cards as well as sticky notes and stickers, regarding desired features and preferred usage of the OLA:
Project signage is also posted at the site:
The West Seattle area’s only current OLA is further south at Westcrest Park (9000 8th Ave. SW).
For questions about the West Seattle Stadium off-leash project, visit the project website or contact project planner Colin Campbell at 206-790-6642 or Colin.Campbell@seattle.gov.
Also, not far from West Seattle, the project team will also be at Othello Playground (4351 S Othello St, southwest corner of the park) today, Thursday, October 24th, from 4-6 pm to gather community feedback about a similar off-leash project that’s planned for that location.
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