The Friends of the Dog Park held its second annual Soggy Doggy Splash Day fund raiser a few weeks ago. (I wrote about it here, and here. Read about last year's event here.)
According to knowledgeable people, the event raised $875 through entrance fees and T-shirt sales with an estimated 165 dogs attending at a ticket price of $5 per dog. The 400 humans got in free. Prior to that event the sums collected amounted to $4,400.71. So the total amount of money now dedicated to the dog part is a shade under $5,500. That's still a very long way from the goal post.
Originally it was said that a dog park would cost $50,000, and an event was held at Hogan Park to show the artist's sketches of the proposed park and introduce the concept to the public. Then almost immediately, the estimates were said to be $60,000. And the most recent estimate is $70,000 to $80,000.
But where do those numbers come from? According to Mr. Coy Willis, head of Midland Animal Services, those estimates of $70,000 to $80,000 came from Bill LaPoint who was the city of Midland Parks and Recreation manager until he took a job in California about a year ago.
Clearly the price is rising faster than the money is coming in. Those of us who aren't familiar with construction prices might be scratching our heads right about now trying to figure out how two fences, one surrounding four acres and the other surrounding three acres, a rock walkway and a concrete entrance can cost so much. Maybe the park doesn't need that concrete entrance. Maybe the park could be smaller. Maybe there's a cheaper alternative to the rock walkways.
The original proposition was for the citizens to raise the money for building the park, and the city was to maintain it. But, at the current rate that the park price is rising versus the current rate the funds are coming in it doesn't take an Alan Greenspan to see that it ain't just gonna happen, at least not in the way originally intended.
Mr. Willis said he is hoping that the City Council will provide funding for the project. Apparently, that is the way it has worked in other cities, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and Houston, for example.
But, there was something about the citizen funded aspect of it that was very appealing, and I hate to see that effort abandoned. Maybe one of the problems was that the person/persons who came up with the plan and estimates was not that concerned with the cost. Eighty grand just seems like an outrageous price for fences and rocks.
Anyway, this is an unfinished story. Stay tuned.
P.S. To answer the person who asked who picks up the money from the collection cans posted at various locations in town, according to Mr. Willis, the money is picked up by an Animal Services employee and delivered to the Permian Basin Area Foundation to hold for safe keeping.
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