ALL ABOUT OUR EXPANSION PROJECT

• The Park Expansion Plans Expansion will double the size of the Dog Park footprint in the form of a dog-leg (no pun intended!) to the north and west of the existing park. While the main park is open field, the new section will carve a six-foot wide path through the underbrush, allowing native trees and plants to thrive. This will offer dog owners an area to walk with their dogs off leash in a fenced, trail-like setting, something they are unable to do in the Melville trails and Portsmouth parks. 
• Space will be cleared for an Agility Area inside the large dog park as well as a Secret (memorial) Garden off the new trail.
• Fencing will be installed in a small section of the large dog area for a “Time Out” spot 
• Night Lighting with LED lights will be installed around the small dog area, the eastern end of the large dog area, the agility area, and the parking lot.   Lighting the entire park would be cost prohibitive; however, this layout will provide enough illumination for owners keep track of their dogs between sunset and 9:00pm in the winter months.  The Parking Lot expansion plan, co-funded by the van Beuren Charitable Foundation and the Town of Portsmouth, will expand the parking area to the north and west into the eastern end of the exiting dog park.  This will increase capacity from 10 parking spaces to 30 spaces, and eliminate on-street parking along Smith Street.
• Throughout 2022 students from the Mathematics and Economics Departments of Salve Regina University are contributing their time and training to two research projects: a park attendance data analysis and an economic impact study.
• In the Fall of 2022, students from the University of Rhode Island’s Landscape Architecture department, under the direction of Department Chair, Professor Richard Sheridan, will create a landscaping design plan for the trail portion of the Portsmouth Dog Park, as part of their fall class project.

Thank you to the van Beuren Charitable Foundation, Narragansett Engineering, Salve Regina University, the University of Rhode Island and the Town of Portsmouth for generously supporting this community project.