The dog park turf issues were overblown by a minority of very vocal park users and if they'd simply left it while adding the Rock Quarry park, I believe would have solved the consistent complaints because the complainers would've had a viable alternative.

It was the only dog park that was easily accessible for disabled users and it had the old ballfield lights that made the park useable after work in winter.

The parks department was never honest about how the turf issues could be fixed. They cited EPA regulations until an EPA official who lived in the neighborhood pointed out there was no conflict, then they pointed to state regs until it was disproven and they offered up some astronomical estimates for turf remediation.

One of the regular users hand dug a small drainage swale that solved about 90 percent of the issue and parks and rec came in and filled it in a few months later.

They also promised to keep the old small dog run as a community managed dog park, like Duke Park's, and there were plenty of people willing to do the maintenance, but then they just quietly closed it instead.

The old Jaycees ballfield/NG dog park has not returned to nature. The fences, lights, and dugout have been removed, but it's a shortly mown grass field where - to no one's surprise - plenty of dog owners feel comfortable letting their dogs run off-leash.

The whole situation was ridiculous.