Monday, May 12, 2008

Fundraiser For Clarendon Park Dog Park

Please join your neighbors and friends as we kick off our fundraising effort for a Dog Park at Clarendon Park. Clarendon Park Neighborhood Association hopes to bring a Dog Park to Clarendon Park because the current Dog Parks are reaching capacity. We also believe this Dog Park will give area neighbors a place to get to know each other better, and improve the safety of Clarendon Park by creating a healthy community presence.

The fundraiser is to be held at The Driftwood, 1021 W. Montrose from 6-9pm on Friday, May 30th. CPNA is asking for a donation of $15 to benefit the Dog Park. There will be drink specials like $2.50 bottles of domestic beer (and others yet to be determined).

If you believe Dog Parks are a good idea for the building of community and increasing the safety of our neighborhood, please consider attending or sending a donation.

20 comments:

  1. I don't have any doggies, but I LOVE the idea of a dog park over there!

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  2. If you would like to help, want more information, haven't signed the petition or want to know where to donate e-mail the Clarendon Park Neighborhood Association at cpnassoc@gmail.com.

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  3. Great.. more land mines. Just what we need.

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  4. It troubles me how many people always seem to find the worst in everything.

    When all you look for is the worst, that is certainly what you will get.

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  5. Why do some of us Uptown residents always have to sound like Debbie Downer? A dog park is good thing-plus I'll take stepping over "land mines" vs. needles anyday!

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  6. Please do not feed the trolls!

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  7. I'm not 'Debbie Downer'. Do you live across the street from Clarendon Park?? Go over there right now and look at how many piles of cra_ there are from people not picking up after their dogs. Last year there were several beatings going on and a woman was shot in the leg. If you want a dog park, move to Lincoln Park. :-)

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  8. I'm confused...dog park = more shootings? A dog park is more dangerous for the neighborhood or for women? Sure, a dog park = more dog poop...but, I'm sure that there are many dog owners who pickup after the inconsiderate owners out there...

    More dog = more eyes = more safe.

    Come on guys! Dog park does not = Lincoln Park. Uptown will NEVER be that...and we don't want to be.

    Go away Debbie Downer!

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  9. anon 5:16

    The point is to contain the land mines. If they are in the dog park they won't be in the other parts of the park. So you will probably have to avoid less land mines. Unless you are walking around in the gated dog park. Come on now, use common sense...

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  10. I'm a dog owner myself, but I've got to question how the advocates for a Clarendon Dog Park reached the conclusion that the other area dog parks are "reaching capacity". Did you do studies on the existing dog park useage? Don't fling around assertions like that unless you've got the data to back it up...the dog park in Challenger Park seems to be rarely in use, and it's not far away. You want a dog park in your front yard, fine, SAY IT. Don't try to corrall public park land for a limited use by pulling a Shiller on the rest of the public.

    For that matter, why fence in an area and put in other permanent fixtures like that so a park area can't be used for anything else? You can run your dog on a long lead on a soccer field, but soccer players can't exactly play across fences, for example. If you want to set aside a chunk of public park land for ONE use, you'd better have a darned good reason for doing it--besides getting people together to know each other. Look at the skateboard park on Wilson east of LSD...that mass of concrete gets limited use, and if skateboarding loses its popularity, the Park District will let it sit there collecting trash and gangbangers before they tear it out...and it takes up space that COULD be used for softball or soccer or picnics or sunbathing...or a DOG PARK.

    Think beyond your own nose.

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  11. Re: Anon 10:51 AM...

    Great post.

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  12. to address anon 10:51 -
    The area proposed for this dog park is a relatively small section of the park and is rarely currently used by anyone (close to where to bocce ball court is). If you have concerns perhaps you should come to a meeting to get the facts before you make assumptions.
    One of the reasons for having a dog park in this area, besides having a place for our dogs to run, is to make the park safer. Margate Park, where Puptown is located, had a lot of similar issues Clarendon park currently has. The addition of Puptown to Margate park has made it a much less hospitable area for crime, drug use, prostitution, etc. We want the same for Clarendon Park. I take my dog to Puptown on occasion - but have to avoid it on busier days because it is too crowded. There are many dog owners in this area who would put this park to good use.

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  13. "Look at the skateboard park on Wilson east of LSD...that mass of concrete gets limited use..."

    True, this is a minor thing, but I'm at Margate park every Saturday and the skateboard park always seems busy to me.

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  14. How do we make the best use of Clarendon Park to serve our community? This is a complicated question and we'll have to release our personal wants to figure out the best use of our precious park land.

    Right now, about 70% of the land is used for sports. There are 4 baseball fields. A soccer field is going in just east of the tennis court on Montrose. As the every thoughtful 10:51 anon stated,
    " If you set aside a chuck of public land for ONE use, you better have a darn good reason for doing it."

    The only piece of public park land along Clarendon for people to enjoy is just north of the fieldhouse. There's Bocce Ball court for everyone to enjoy.

    The rest in open public space that kids use to play ball, the seniors sit on the few old park benches and dog owners use to get to the back of the baseball fields where dogs run free every day.

    Public space is precious. You don't realize how important it is to urban dwellers until you don't have any let.

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  15. I hope the dog park replaces the bocce ball court. I've never seen anyone use it and it's kind of an odd looking eyesore IMO.


    Also, I love how anon 10:51 gives props to his/her own post at 10:58. Very clever.

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  16. I'm moving to the hood in two weeks and have a dog. I'd to have a place to let her off the damn leash.

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  17. There is a bocce court in Uptown?! Who knew! Of course, I like to play bocce with a glass of wine in my hand. (Helps my game.) I don't suppose there is any way that I could get away with public drinking around here...

    Exactly where is it?

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  18. The Bocce Ball court is just north of the fieldhouse on Clarendon and Sunnyside.

    You can get the Bocce Balls at the fieldhouse front desk by leaving a driver's license or valid city I.D.

    Game rules are also available.

    The reason the Bocce Ball court has not been used is simply that no one knew about it.

    That will change this summer and we expect lots of people to have fun playing. It's easy, fun and another positive way for the park public space.

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  19. Anon 7:27 pm. Uptown has three dog friendly areas. Lawrence and Marine dog park, Buena and Kenmore dog park and the doggie beach at Wilson and Lake Michigan.

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  20. I wonder why our Clarendon park became the summer storage facility for Catepillar Tractor Company peak transformer trucks.

    Fifteen years ago the pink marble building that services the Water Dept intake pipes was not surrounded by that ugly chain link fence. And 5-8 years ago, those semi trailers that hold mobile electrical transformers used to level peak surges were not stored inside that fence.

    Since when is a local park used as an electical transformer station? And if it is, why can't Christy Webber Landscaping (as in Terry Teele, Mayor Daley's former right hand man) landscaping it to look decent.

    What used to be a beautiful marble clad building has been turned into and industrial eye sore in our park.

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