Dog Park Improvements Completed

OCEAN CITY — Improvements at the town’s dog park at 94th Street have been completed, but the entire park complex could be expanded in the future.
Back in July, Public Works Director Hal Adkins presented a plan to the Recreation and Parks Committee for expanding the diminutive dog park at 94th Street in-house with little out-of-pocket expense for the city. The Mayor and Council ultimately approved the project.
The dog park always had a storm water retention area, essentially a marsh, running down the length of one side. Adkins plan was to excavate that marshy area and backfill it.
Under the plan, a new storm water retention pond was created that will handle the runoff formerly handled by the marshy area. The project, which has essentially doubled the size of the dog park at 94th Street, was completed a few weeks ago. New sod and an irrigation system has been installed at the improved and expanded dog park and the facility is open for business, it was learned during a Recreation and Parks Committee meeting this month.
Recreation and Parks Director Susan Petito said on Tuesday the department is hopeful there might be an opportunity to expand that entire municipal park complex in the future if the old Ocean Plaza Mall property is redeveloped. In 2018, the new property owner tore down most of the old mall, leaving the anchor stores Acme and Rose’s in place.
While no new future plans for the property have been announced, Petito said her department would like the opportunity to expand the municipal park complex at 94th Street if an opportunity arises when then property is redeveloped.
“If and when the 94th Street mall property is redeveloped, we would ask the Mayor and Council to be proactive in possibly obtaining more property if an opportunity presents itself with the developer,” she said. “Recreation and Parks would love to be able to expand the 94th Street park.”
Currently, the town’s park at 94th Street includes the aforementioned dog park along with a basketball court and some other amenities. Petito said a future expansion could include a number of possibilities.
“It really is an ideal midtown location,” she said. “The possibilities are endless. We could expand the dog park or create a mini-skate park, or maybe add more tennis or pickleball courts.”