Downtown dog walkers, rejoice! The name and design of the new Riverfront Park dog park will be revealed on Saturday

It’s no secret that good ol’ Spokane is on the rise. Our little city isn’t so little anymore, which comes with its fair share of positives and negatives, along with, in this case, great perks for dog lovers.

With the help of the Spokane Humane Society, the Spokane Parks Foundation will announce the name and design of a new dog park to be opened in Riverfront Park at noon on Saturday, June 18, during the Spokane Humane Society’s annual Parade of Paws. The dog park will be located near the historic forestry shelter, and it will be funded entirely by donations. To celebrate their 125th anniversary, the Spokane Humane Society donated $250,000 to the project, which is expected to cost $750,000.

Spokane Humane Society Board President Melissa Williams thinks that a dog park is one of the biggest things that downtown Spokane is missing.

“We have a lot of people who are living downtown and working downtown that don't have a place to take their dogs,” Williams says.

Fianna Dickson, communication manager for Spokane Parks and Recreation, said that 10 years ago when the parks department was doing outreach for the Riverfront Park bond, a dog park emerged as a desired addition.

“Over the years, we've been thinking about how to accomplish the creation of a dog park in Riverfront outside of bond funds. And that's when we brought on in 2018 [...] the Spokane Parks Foundation to help us complete several projects that fell outside of that bond,” Dickson says.

The Spokane Parks Foundation launched the Campaign for Riverfront Spokane in 2018, and since then, the campaign has produced the Hooptown USA basketball court and the Providence Playscape, and the dog park is the latest project to materialize.

“It will be a safe environment for people to bring their dogs to play. It'll be safe for the people. It'll be safe for the dogs, and it will have everything there that any dog could possibly want to have in a play area,” Williams says.

The timeline of when the dog park will be fully constructed and open to four-legged and two-legged friends depends solely on fundraising. With about $500,000 left to raise, those who donate $125 or more will have a charm on the fence of the dog park designated to them. Those interested can make a donation on the Spokane Parks Foundation website.

Saturday’s event will unveil an artist’s rendering of what the dog park will look like.

“This will give folks an idea of what the space will be, what it can be with donor dollars and provide an opportunity for people to contribute if they're interested,” Dickson says.