Dog owners seek running room on Boston Common

3/5/08Beacon Hill dog owners met last week to work out a plan to bring to the Boston's Parks Department to create a permanent dog recreation space on the common.

Since the previous dog space on the Common, the parade grounds, was closed off for restoration last spring, dog owners have been using the temporary space located near the corner of Park Street and Beacon Street.

But dog owners in the Beacon Hill community, as well as other neighborhoods surrounding the common, are hoping for at least three rotating, permanent spaces on the common where dog owners can let their dogs run off leash

"We all have a passion. We are all dog owners. We need a safe, controlled place to play with our dogs in the city," said Jenna Blung, one of the co-founders of BostonDOG.org, a website which encourages dog owners to become more involved with community issues concerning their pets.

Most dog owners said they would like to have a fenced-in area on the common, which they said would be safest for their pets as well as other users of the Commons around them.

But the Parks Department is strongly opposed to having a fenced in area on the common because of the visual displeasure it may cause. Also, Parks Department officials say the dogs are tearing up the turf, which becomes muddy and is expensive to restore.

"There will never be a fenced off area for dogs on Boston Common. It is the oldest public park in the United States of America, and we're not going to fence off part of that because it is open to everybody," said Mary Hines of the Boston Parks and Recreation Department.

Hines said that if the dog owners come up with a plan, then the city will begin looking at how to implement rotating dog recreation spaces.

One dog owner suggested that if turf was laid down on one section of the common it might save the city the work of restoration and create a permanent space.

"Putting artificial turf in the common is probably a worse idea than putting a fence up," said Colin Zick, the chair of the public spaces committee at the Beacon Hill Civic Association.

Members of BostonDOG.org are confident that if dog owners of the Beacon Hill community and other neighborhoods put together a properly outlined proposal, they will assuredly get a space in the park because they have the support of Councilor Mike Ross.

"Councilor Mike Ross has been instrumental in this initiative; he has always supported dog owners in Beacon Hill and Back Bay. Councilor Ross and his staff have definitely prioritized the need for dog recreation space and Boston dog owners are lucky to have him in their corner," said J. Alain Ferry, the other co-founder of BostonDOG.com.

But the idea of having an area for dogs just is not enough for some Beacon Hill dog owners, who say that a fenced in area is a much safer option for everyone.

"There not being a fence poses a big problem because it doesn't allow dogs that aren't voice trained well to run freely. In my situation, I probably wouldn't take my dog there because it is not fenced in," said Brian Dubiel, a dog owner from Beacon Hill. "The city of Boston has to do something to accommodate us, and I hope they will," he said.

If nothing else, Ferry said he thinks the community should push for the fenced-in dog area along the Esplanade, just behind Back Bay, that existed in the 1980s to be reopened.